Trump says US will keep or sell oil seized from Venezuela

Donald Trump says the United States will keep or sell crude oil from tankers seized off the coast of Venezuela, as well as the tankers themselves.

The US president’s comments came as Washington continues to pressure the South American country’s leader Nicolas Maduro to step down.

“We’re going to keep the oil,” Trump told reporters in Florida on Monday, adding: “Maybe we’ll sell it, maybe we’ll keep it. Maybe we’ll use it in the strategic reserve. We’ll keep the ships, too.”

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using oil revenue to fund drug-related crimes, while Caracas denounced the seizure as “piracy.”

The US military has Two oil tankers seized this monthincluding one on Saturday.

Trump issues latest warning as US Coast Guard The pursuit of the third tanker continuesauthorities described it as part of Venezuela’s “dark fleet” used to evade U.S. sanctions.

“Things are moving forward and we’re going to get it eventually,” Trump said.

Separately, the U.S. military said on Monday it had attacked a suspected trafficking ship in international waters in the eastern Pacific. One person died, U.S. Southern Command said.

Asked whether the purpose of the seizure was to force Maduro to step down, Trump responded: “Well, I think it could be… it depends on what he wants to do. I think he would be wise to do that. But we’ll figure that out later.”

The United States has been beefing up its military presence in the Pacific and Caribbean and carried out deadly attacks on ships suspected of smuggling Venezuelan drugs, killing about 100 people.

It has provided no public evidence that the ships were carrying drugs, and the military has come under increasing scrutiny from Congress over the attacks.

Speaking on Monday, Trump reiterated that the United States also intends to strike land targets.

“We will start the same program on land. If they want to come by land, they will end up with big problems. They will be blown to pieces because we don’t want to poison our people,” he said.

Responding to Trump on state television, Maduro said: “If he focuses on his own country’s affairs, he will handle economic and social problems better in his own country and the world will be better off.”

Since taking office in January, Trump has doubled down on a reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, accusing him of being “one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world.”

The Trump administration has designated Maduro’s government as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and last week ordered a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

The latest measures sparked anger among Caracas officials as Venezuela’s government relies heavily on oil exports to fund public spending.

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday at Venezuela’s request to discuss what the country’s government calls “continued acts of aggression by the United States.”