Sen. John Kennedy defends Trump oil tanker seizures from Venezuela to China
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Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., defended the Trump administration’s seizure of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, arguing that the imposition of U.S. sanctions was legal, overdue and already hitting the Maduro regime’s profits.
“This is illegal oil being transported in illegal tankers. We have judicial warrants to seize these tankers. It’s time for us to do that,” Kennedy said Monday on “Hannity.”
Kennedy rejected claims that the seizures were unlawful.
Senator John Kennedy said that the implementation of sanctions against the government of Nicolás Maduro is overdue. (Reuters; Getty Images)
“Sanctions have no value unless you enforce them,” Kennedy said, adding that oil and ships were sanctioned and were “flying under a false flag.”
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“They’ve been doing this for a long time. And we haven’t implemented the sanctions,” Kennedy said. “So now we’re doing this. And it’s hurting the Maduro regime. Good. I’ll take a dozen of them.”
A crude oil tanker waits its turn to load crude oil at Lake Maracaibo in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela, on May 9, 2025. (Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)
Kennedy called the Venezuelan government a “criminal organization” and accused President Nicolás Maduro of making profits by “selling poison to our children” and trading in illegal oil.
He described Havana as particularly vulnerable, claiming that Venezuelan oil was being funneled to China, India and Cuba.
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“Cuba gets 40 to 50 percent of its oil from Venezuela,” Kennedy said. “Without oil, the communist regime in Cuba will eventually fail.”
“I think we should strangle Venezuela’s money. We took them down. Let’s strangle them to death.”
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The Louisiana senator said he has “great sympathy for the Venezuelan people” but “no sympathy for the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro.”
He added that any legislators who do this “should want their money back on their GED.”
