U.S. Targets Shadow Fleet as Warning to Adversaries to Stay Out of Venezuela

My favorite quote, "Some U.S. officials and analysts are skeptical that seizing a handful of ships will cause Moscow, Beijing or Tehran to alter their Latin American policies or significantly dent their coffers.".

What a load of crap. Like China or Russia have any say in the matter. The tankers aren't leaving Venezuela. Period. Who cares what they think? It's about time someone in the Oval Office grew a pair.

U.S. Targets Shadow Fleet as Warning to Adversaries to Stay Out of Venezuela

Seizures are latest step as U.S. escalates its ‘Donroe Doctrine’ to boost its influence in Western Hemisphere

By Alexander Ward and Lara Seligman, WSJ

Jan. 8, 2026

The U.S.’s seizure of tankers under a growing oil embargo is meant to warn adversaries attempting to gain a foothold in the Western Hemisphere and boost Washington’s influence.

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration’s seizure of tankers under a growing oil embargo is meant to warn adversaries attempting to gain a foothold in the Western Hemisphere and boost Washington’s influence in Latin America, according to U.S. officials.

The seizure Wednesday of two oil tankers linked to Venezuela, bringing the total to four in recent weeks, gives the U.S. leverage over Venezuela’s interim government, administration officials said. It is also meant to signal to Russia, China and Iran that they shouldn’t ally themselves with Caracas or flout U.S. sanctions, escalating the Trump administration’s “Donroe Doctrine,” aimed at making America the region’s dominant power.

By stopping certain ships from delivering Venezuelan oil, President Trump aims to starve its customers of needed resources and revenue, weakening them as they rethink their relations with Caracas. The U.S. has delivered the message to Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, that her government must now side with Washington and wind down relations with Russia, China and Iran, officials said.

Some U.S. officials and analysts are skeptical that seizing a handful of ships will cause Moscow, Beijing or Tehran to alter their Latin American policies or significantly dent their coffers. One State Department official said the damage to those capitals was a side effect of targeting the tankers, as the real goal remains coercing Caracas to do Washington’s bidding, namely allowing American companies to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure and profit from its vast oil reserves.

For Iran, Russia and China, “losing a partner in the Western Hemisphere is a blow, but not a grievous one,” said Gregory Brew, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, an advisory firm. “The bigger threat is if the U.S. expands its tactic of an oil blockade—or more tanker seizures targeting sanctioned tankers—beyond just Venezuela,” he said, adding that Iran in particular has long been worried about its tankers being interdicted.

Retired Adm. James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander Europe, said targeting the shadow fleet—off-the-books ships that transfer sanctioned oil—was a sensible geopolitical move that addresses three different problems. “They will certainly weaken the economies of Russia and Iran, but they will also provide real leverage to consolidate control over Venezuela,” he said, and could potentially force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table with Ukraine.

“The administration has made it quite clear to the interim authorities in Venezuela that this is the Western Hemisphere and American dominance is going to continue under this president,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters Wednesday.

If Caracas’s interim authorities don’t listen to Washington, the Trump administration said it plans to maintain its pressure on Venezuela. “They understand that the only way they can move oil and generate revenue and not have economic collapse is if they cooperate and work with the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.

Rubio’s remarks came after a closed-door briefing with senators about the administration’s Venezuela strategy, which Republicans appear to be backing. “The shadow fleet is not going to be operating in our backyard,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters.

Democrats expressed outrage over what they called an ill-conceived blueprint to rule Venezuela from afar while forcibly taking its oil. “The scope and insanity of that plan is absolutely stunning,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Some military experts aren’t convinced that seizing the shadow-fleet ships, particularly by using elite special forces, could be sustained long term.

“Is it effective? Sure, it works. Is that the most efficient way to do it? I don’t think so,” said retired Vice Adm. John Miller, the former commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. He warned there could be ramifications to continuing to poke Russia, which deployed at least one warship to escort the tanker that the U.S. seized in the northern Atlantic on Wednesday.

“I’m not sure that that’s necessarily something that we want to continue to do in the future,” Miller said, since it essentially dares Putin “to think bigger.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that the Justice Department was “monitoring several other vessels for similar enforcement action.” The U.S. doesn’t currently have plans to expand its operations against shadow fleets beyond the current Venezuela campaign, U.S. officials said.

A U.S. special-operations force boarded a ship called the Marinera, a tanker formerly known as the Bella 1, on Wednesday. The Coast Guard had been pursuing the vessel for two weeks on an odyssey that began near Venezuela and ended south of Iceland, U.S. officials said. Over that time, the ship—which wasn’t carrying any oil—changed its name and claimed Russian protection.

Russia demanded that the U.S. “ensure humane and dignified treatment of Russian citizens aboard the Marinera and respect their rights and interests,” Russia’s state news agency TASS reported.

U.S. forces on Wednesday also seized the Chinese-registered Sophia near the Caribbean, according to U.S. authorities. In a social-media post, U.S. Southern Command said that the vessel was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities, and that the U.S. Coast Guard was escorting the ship to the U.S.

Rubio in various television interviews Sunday called the U.S. campaign a “quarantine,” a term that means the U.S. was selectively targeting certain sanctioned ships. But Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in several social-media posts Wednesday described the effort as a “blockade,” which under international law would be considered an act of war.

“The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT—anywhere in the world,” Hegseth posted on X.

Trump has said that the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela and that senior officials like Rubio and Hegseth would help run the country. The president is expected to meet with oil executives Friday to discuss the multibillion-dollar and multiyear effort to control Venezuela’s energy sector, starting with rebuilding decaying infrastructure.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright added Wednesday that the U.S. would run Venezuela’s oil sector for the foreseeable future.

“We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela—first this backed-up, stored oil, and then indefinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace,” Wright said at a Goldman Sachs conference in Miami.

Trump previously said that Venezuela would send 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., valued roughly at $3 billion. The U.S. produced nearly 13.9 million barrels of oil a day in October, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, part of the Energy Department.