Trump has a mega oil tanker seized in Venezuela: the tycoon’s announcement

“We just seized an oil tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, actually the largest ever seized,” Trump told reporters. “And there are other things happening, you’ll see later.”

The US plan for post-Maduro

Engaged for months in a campaign of military pressure on Venezuela, with Trump’s repeated public threats towards Nicolas Maduro, the United States is meanwhile working on plans for the “day after” in the event of the Venezuelan leader’s exit from the scene. Plans that Trump is having the White House Internal Security Council prepare, in a confidential manner, led by one of his most trusted advisors Stephen Miller, who works in close contact with the Secretary of State and interim Security Advisor, Marco Rubio, two Trump administration sources revealed to CNN.

According to these sources, the plans include several options for actions the US could take to fill the power vacuum or stabilize Venezuela if Maduro leaves power as part of a negotiated exit or is forced out following targeted US raids inside the country or other direct actions.

The deployment of naval forces off the coast of Venezuela, and the dozens of raids that are currently at the center of a heated political debate in Washington, are officially justified as part of the war on drug traffickers, who the Trump administration considers narco-terrorists. But administration officials do not hesitate to admit that the operation is a clear sign that Trump is considering forcing Maduro from power.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to repeat that he “does not rule out anything” on Venezuela and that “Maduro’s days are numbered”, as he did in a recent interview with Politico. According to CNN, however, there is no unified position within the administration on the matter, but clearly contrasting positions on a possible military or clandestine action to remove Maduro.

And according to the administration sources cited there is no great desire to increase the US commitment in Venezuela, even if Trump has refused to rule out direct participation in a “regime change” operation and therefore the plans being drawn up by the White House Council also include this option. “It’s the federal government’s job to always be ready for plan A, B and C,” says a senior administration official, noting that the president wouldn’t make the threats he does if he didn’t have a team ready with a set of options for every possible scenario.