Video shows moment US seizes Venezuelan oil tanker, Trump administration says

WorldPolitics
11 Dec 2025 • 7:03 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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The Trump administration has released video of what it says is the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela following months of US military buildup around the region.

In footage shared by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday (10 December), military helicopters approach a tanker before armed personnel board the vessel.

Speaking at the White House, Donald Trump said that the US had seized a "very large tanker”, before saying he “assumes we’re going to keep the oil”.

Ms Bondi said that the vessel was a crude oil tanker being used to transport oil from Venezuela and Iran and that it had been sanctioned for its role in an “illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations”.