{"id":625472,"date":"2025-12-11T03:38:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T03:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/625472\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T03:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T03:38:17","slug":"trump-news-at-a-glance-seizure-of-oil-tanker-marks-new-level-of-tensions-between-us-and-venezuela-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/625472\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump news at a glance: Seizure of oil tanker marks new level of tensions between US and Venezuela | Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump\u2019s four-month pressure campaign<\/a> against the South American country\u2019s dictator, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n

Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, posted footage of the seizure on X. The grainy, unclassified 45-second video shows US forces landing on the tanker from a helicopter.<\/p>\n

In an accompanying statement, Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the US Coast Guard, with support from the Department of Defense, had \u201cexecuted a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela<\/a> and Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s government made no immediate comment on the seizure \u2013 but speaking at a rally in Caracas, Maduro urged citizens to act like \u201cwarriors\u201d and be ready \u201cto smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n

US forces seize oil tanker off Venezuela coast<\/p>\n

The objective of this week\u2019s reported tanker seizure was not immediately clear.<\/p>\n

In an interview last week, Joe Biden\u2019s former chief Latin America adviser, Juan Gonz\u00e1lez, said he believed one possible way out of the current crisis might be for the Trump administration to push Maduro into accepting a recall referendum, perhaps in 2027, but threatening \u201creal hardline consequences\u201d such as a blockade if the result was not respected.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump launches $1m \u2018gold card\u2019 visa scheme amid immigration crackdown<\/p>\n

Donald Trump<\/a> launched a new program that will allow wealthy foreign individuals to buy a US \u201cgolden visa\u201d for $1m, and trailed a \u201cplatinum\u201d version for $5m.<\/p>\n

\u201cA direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invaluable Talent,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Wednesday on social media.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

Fed cuts interest rates by a quarter point amid apparent split over US economy<\/p>\n

The US Federal Reserve<\/a> announced on Wednesday that it was cutting interest rates by a quarter point for the third time this year, as the embattled central bank appeared split over how best to manage the US economy.<\/p>\n

The Fed chair, Jerome Powell<\/a>, has emphasized unity within the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the board of Fed leaders that sets interest rates. But the nine-to-three vote to lower rates to a range of 3.5% to 3.75% <\/strong>was divisive among the committee that tends to vote in unanimity.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

US senator calls for insider trading inquiry over Trump donors buying $12m worth of shares<\/p>\n

A senior Democratic senator is calling for an investigation into potential insider trading by fossil-fuel billionaires close to the Trump administration, after a Guardian investigation raised questions<\/a> about an unusual share-buying spree.<\/p>\n

Robert Pender and Michael Sabel, the founders and co-chairs of Venture Global<\/a>, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company headquartered in Virginia, bought more than a million shares worth almost $12m each, just days after meeting with senior Trump officials in March.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

US signs nearly $140m deal to purchase six Boeing 737s for use in deportations<\/p>\n

The new contract is the latest in a series of steps taken by DHS as part of Trump\u2019s pledge<\/a> to carry out the \u201clargest deportation operation in American history\u201d.<\/p>\n

In October, DHS announced<\/a> that 1.6 million people had self-deported from the US while another 500,000 had been deported. However, experts have questioned<\/a> the agency\u2019s claims, citing limited transparency around immigration data.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

All tourists to the United States would have to reveal their social media activity from the last five years, under new Trump administration<\/a> plans.<\/p>\n

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), would also require any email addresses and telephone numbers visitors have used in the same period, and the names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of family members, including children.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

Judge blocks Trump administration\u2019s deployment of national guard troops in Los Angeles<\/p>\n

A US judge on Wednesday morning blocked the deployment by the federal government of national guard troops in Los Angeles<\/a> and ordered the guard returned to the control of the California governor, a court filing showed.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration<\/a> is being challenged in federal court over its authority and rationale for continuing to maintain command over the national guard troops it deployed to the city earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

AfD responds to Trump \u2018erasure\u2019 claims with call for nationalist revival in Europe<\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s far-right Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland (AfD) has responded to US claims that Europe faces \u201ccivilisational erasure\u201d by saying it backs efforts for a nationalist revival on the continent \u2013 but other nationalist parties in the EU are far more cautious.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n

What else happened today:<\/p>\n

Catching up? Here\u2019s what happened Tuesday, 9 December<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-625472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}