President Trump has laid out a clear, unapologetic timeline for taking control of Venezuela’s chaotic oil apparatus, and his administration followed through this week by seizing additional sanctioned, Venezuela-linked tankers in international waters. The operations — carried out by Coast Guard and military teams — show a level of resolve Americans have not seen from weak-kneed elites in years, and they demonstrate that when this president says he will act, he means it.
The two most recent interdictions involved a tanker tracked across the Atlantic that had been reflagged and renamed while trying to evade U.S. enforcement, and a stateless motor tanker seized in Caribbean waters after it ignored boarding attempts. These vessels join other ships interdicted in recent weeks as the administration dismantles the so-called shadow fleet that has helped Maduro, Iran and their partners traffic oil and bankroll criminal networks.
Beyond bold interdictions, the White House is moving to make seized Venezuelan oil and sanctioned cargo part of an orderly plan that benefits Americans, not dictators or foreign proxies. Administration officials have signaled they will selectively lift certain restrictions so that U.S.-approved channels can market Venezuelan crude — even discussing the transfer of tens of millions of barrels to stabilize markets and fund reconstruction under U.S. oversight. That kind of leverage — using the purse strings rather than sending troops — is smart, strategic statecraft.
Make no mistake: this is pressure diplomacy done right. Secretary-level briefings and congressional updates have laid out a three-point plan to ensure the regime cannot profit from illicit oil sales, while American forces and law enforcement keep up the chokehold on sanctioned ships. Critics who prattle about “international law” miss the point — offensive, lawless networks have been exploiting weak enforcement for years, and it’s about time someone enforced the rules that protect our national security.
At the same time, President Trump resumed the long-standing strategic conversation about Greenland, arguing bluntly that a resource-rich, strategically located territory in the North Atlantic cannot be left to rivals who would weaponize its geography. The president’s national security team has discussed options, and senior officials say the idea of acquisition or a major new security and economic arrangement is back on the table; our enemies circle, and we cannot be timid about protecting the homeland.
Predictably, authoritarian capitals and left-wing internationalists cried “piracy” and tut-tutted at American action, even as those regimes have spent years aiding sanctions evasion and funding terrorism. China and Russia rushed to condemn the seizures rather than explain why their own networks were enabling the illicit oil trade, which only proves the morality and necessity of America standing up for stability and lawfulness in the hemisphere.
There are risks and real-world complications, and Congress must be involved to provide legal backing and oversight where needed, but that is not an excuse for paralysis. Conservatives who prize American strength should rally behind a plan that protects U.S. energy interests, denies revenue to tyrants and reasserts American leadership — all without wasting lives or resources on indefinite occupations.
Hardworking Americans want leaders who act, not leaders who apologize; they want energy security and a foreign policy that puts our interests first. This administration’s bold moves in Venezuela and its unapologetic strategic thinking about Greenland send a clear message: America will not be outmaneuvered, and we will use every lawful, effective tool to defend our people and our prosperity.
