Trump holds an event with Rubio and Hegseth during vacation as tensions with Venezuela mount
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump The meeting with top national security officials on Monday comes as the U.S. Coast Guard steps up efforts to intercept oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administration’s escalating pressure campaign on Venezuela. The government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan are scheduled to join Trump, who is vacationing at the Mar-a-Lago resort, for what the White House called a “major announcement.” Trump plans to discuss a shipbuilding initiative at the event, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
But Trump’s gathering of key members of his national security team also marks another turning point in Trump’s four-month pressure campaign on Maduro’s government; This campaign began with the aim of stopping the flow of illegal drugs from the South American country, but later evolved into something more obscure.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has begun evacuating diplomats’ families from Venezuela, according to a European intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
The evacuations included women and children and began Friday, the official told The Associated Press. Russian Foreign Ministry officials assessed the situation in Venezuela in “very harsh tones,” the official said. The White House and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the Caribbean, the U.S. Coast Guard continued its pursuit for a second day Monday of a sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration described as part of the “dark fleet” that Venezuela is using to evade U.S. sanctions. The official added that the tanker was flying under a false flag and was under a US judicial seizure order.
This was the third ship pursued by the Coast Guard on Saturday. Panama-flagged ship seized This ship, called the Centuries, is what US officials say is part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet.
Coast Guard, with the help of the Navy, A sanctioned tanker named Skipper was seized Also on December 10 part of a shadow fleet of tankers The US says it is operating outside the law to move sanctioned cargo. That ship was registered in Panama.
Embers, He said that after this initial seizure, the United States would impose a “blockade” on Venezuela. Trump has repeatedly said Maduro’s days in power are numbered.
Last week, Trump once again justified his announcement by demanding that Venezuela return assets it seized from US oil companies years ago. “blockade” against travel by sanctioned oil tankers To or from a South American country.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, said Monday on “Fox & Friends” that targeting the tankers was intended to send “a worldwide message that Maduro cannot stand the illegal activity that he is participating in, he has to go, and we will stand with our people.”
Meanwhile, the Defense Department, under Trump’s orders, continues its campaign of attacks on smaller ships in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean that it claims are carrying drugs to the United States and beyond.
At least 104 people lost their lives 28 known attacks Since the beginning of September. The attacks have faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists who say the administration has presented insufficient evidence that its targets were indeed drug traffickers and that the deadly attacks amounted to extrajudicial killings.
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Burrows reported from London.
