(NewsNation) — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday sought to calm fears of long-term conflict with Venezuela after the U.S. seized an oil tanker Wednesday, insisting that “prolonged war” isn’t what President Donald Trump wants.
The United States has been ramping up pressure on the Latin American country as the Trump administration targets Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and what it calls the flow of illegal narcotics coming from the region.
Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Leavitt clarified that while Trump “wants peace, he also wants to see the end of illegal drugs being trafficked into the United States and taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans across our country.”
Escalating tensions with Venezuela
Leavitt’s comments come as the Trump administration faces growing scrutiny for its increased military presence off the coast of Venezuela, with politicians on both sides of the aisle questioning the legality of strikes on alleged drug boats and the recent seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.
“Every one of these capsized boats saves tens of thousands of American lives. This is what the president has prioritized,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told NewsNation on Thursday in defense of the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats, which administration officials claim have consistently been conducted legally.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem linked the seizure of the oil tanker to the Trump administration’s ongoing counterdrug efforts, calling the move “a successful operation directed by the president to ensure that we’re pushing back on a regime that is systematically covering and flooding our country with deadly drugs and killing our next generation of Americans.”
“For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X under a video of the seizure.
The “crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran,” Bondi wrote.
US sanctions Maduro’s wife’s nephews
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it is sanctioning three nephews of Maduro’s wife and six shipping companies moving Venezuelan oil.
“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “These sanctions undo the Biden Administration’s failed attempt to make a deal with Maduro, enabling his dictatorial and brutal control at the expense of the Venezuelan and American people.”
Colombia next?
Trump told reporters Wednesday that Colombia and President Gustavo Petro could be the next target of his administration’s counterdrug efforts in the region.
“Colombia is producing a lot of drugs,” Trump said. “So he better wise up or he’ll be next. He’ll be next soon. I hope he’s listening; he’s going to be next.”