The Pentagon has released plenty of video clips that show American missiles blowing boats suspected of carrying drugs out of the water. But the “double tap” strike on Sept. 2 is being kept under wraps.
President Trump said the United States wanted to reclaim expropriated oil assets, setting off a nationalist reaction in a country where the resource holds a mythical status.
Derricks in the Maracaibo oil fields of Venezuela in the early 20th century. American oil companies invested millions of dollars in the region, generating profits that flowed to the United States, rather than Venezuela.
The Democratic measure was defeated mostly along party lines, along with another resolution that would have halted the military’s escalating campaign of boat attacks.
U.S. military aircraft in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, on Tuesday. For months, the U.S. military has been building up a large naval force there as President Trump continues to threaten to attack Venezuela.
Pentagon officials, surprised by President Trump’s orders, scrambled to work out a plan to halt sanctioned tankers as Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s leader, vowed resistance.
An oil tanker docked at Cardón Refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, in 2021. More than 400 tankers have moved Venezuelan oil or related products since 2019, and these vessels are part of a bigger fleet of ships that trade oil illicitly.
The move is an escalation of military operations and a pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s leader. But its scope and economic impact are not clear.
The defense secretary joined the secretary of state on Capitol Hill to deliver the first classified briefings to include all members of the House and Senate on the maritime attacks.
The United States and Trinidad say U.S. Marines installed a radar in Tobago to combat drugs — but this war materiel isn’t designed for operations based at sea or on land.
During 11 interviews with Vanity Fair over President Trump’s first year back in office, Ms. Wiles, his chief of staff, opened up about the president, the people around him and their internal fights.
Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, typically shuns publicity. She called a recent article in Vanity Fair, based on 11 interviews she gave over the past year, “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.”
A U.S. Air Force air-to-air refueling tanker took off from an airport in St. Croix in late November. A similar type of aircraft nearly collided with a JetBlue flight on Friday over the Caribbean, according to air traffic control radio communications.
Firms with ties to Cuba are getting a larger share of Venezuelan oil exports, as the island’s security agents boost President Nicolás Maduro’s defenses.
The U.S. seizure of a vessel off Venezuela is likely to squeeze the country’s government, but do little to counter the tankers that secretively move oil from sanctioned countries.
If the Trump administration allows Nicolás Maduro to endure, it will signal that a criminal dictatorship masquerading as a state can stare down the United States and win.
Did Pete Hegseth break the law after authorizing Venezuelan boat strikes? The Times Opinion editor, Kathleen Kingsbury, argues that there are multiple reasons the strikes were legally dubious.
Login
