WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Wednesday that US forces “seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela” amid escalating tensions between the two countries over strikes on drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea.
Trump noted that the vessel was the “largest one ever seized” by the American military.
“And other things are happening,” the president added. “You’ll be seeing that later.”
Trump suggested in a Monday interview that Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro’s “days are numbered” as the US ramps up its presence to combat suspected narco-terrorists traveling north from the South American nation.
US lawmakers have been demanding more information about the airstrikes on the traffickers in recent weeks, with Democrats contending that the president is on the verge of waging a war without a vote from members of Congress.
On Tuesday, two US fighter jets also flew over the Gulf of Venezuela for a “routine training flight,” a defense official told the Associated Press.
Trump has stressed that each boat strike saves as many as 25,000 American lives from drug overdose deaths.
This is s a developing story. Please check back for updates.
