Dem
47
GOP
53
We remain unsure of what Donald Trump is trying to achieve with his personal war against Venezuela, and in particular against the maritime fleet of Venezuela. Is it that military actions against brown people make MAGA Nation feel, uh, tingly in the pants, as it were? Is this a distraction from Epstein Mobilier? Is he trying to create a state of war so as to unlock powers contained within legislation like the Alien Enemies Act of 1798? Does Trump regard Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as a personal rival and enemy? Is Trump trying to gain access to Venezuelan mineral and oil deposits (akin to his interest in Greenland)? Could be any, all, or none of these things.
We do think we understand the latest incident, though. As most readers will know by now, the U.S. Navy boarded and seized a Venezuelan oil tanker that was sailing under the name Skipper. The U.S. is going to keep the boat and the oil within it, and will presumably sell to the highest bidder.
Of all the various actions undertaken against the Venezuelans by the Trump government, this one is far and away the most legal. There was actually a warrant, issued by a federal judge, allowing for the tanker to be seized. And the process of securing that warrant actually began under the Joe Biden administration, because Venezuela was violating the sanctions that have been imposed on Iran, and was using that particular ship (previously under the name Adisa) to continue to trade with the Iranians.
The current administration loves to stick it to both Iran and to Venezuela, so this was a two-fer on that account. Meanwhile, Donald Trump loves free money more than he loves life itself. And when it's free money that is flowing into the government's coffers, well, he generally sees that as a presidential slush fund. We have no idea how much money a tanker and about 1.1 million barrels of oil will go for, but we have no doubt that Trump will begin announcing plans to send considerably more than that amount to farmers, and then to voters in the form of checks, and then to personal savings accounts for 6-year-olds, and then to three other projects. He always spends money he doesn't actually have, and then spends it again, and again and again. After all, that's basically how he built his real estate portfolio.
All of this said, we have absolutely no doubt that the main reason the tanker was seized was to shift the narrative away from the "double tap" attack on the Venezuelan fishing boat. While the administration has steadfastly refused to release video of the second, probably illegal, strike on the fishermen, it could not get video of the tanker seizure out there fast enough. You can see American helicopters approaching the ship, and then you can see personnel (we're guessing Navy SEALs) rappelling down to the deck of the ship, and... well, it all reads like an episode of G.I. Joe, or maybe a Steven Seagal movie from the 1990s. And in case there is any doubt this was a PR move, the first White House official to make the footage public was... "Attorney General" Pam Bondi. Last we checked, even a real AG is not in the military chain of command.
Perhaps this will successfully deflect attention from the "double tap" scandal, though we tend to doubt it. It's even possible that it will make things worse. As The Bulwark's William Kristol observes, the tanker incident raises a pretty obvious question along the lines of "If the U.S. can take a giant oil tanker without killing anyone, why can't it take a tiny fishing boat without killing anyone?" It's almost like the administration WANTED to kill people. In any case, Venezuela is shaping up to be one of the sleeper issues of the 2026 campaign cycle. And remember, true MAGA patriots don't want the U.S. involved in foreign wars. That includes starting them. (Z)