"Why the United States apparently seized a Venezuelan oil tanker. Trump, despite broaching the topic directly to media, elected not to answer who owned said tanker, or what the justification was for taking it, saying only "it was seized for a very good reason." When one reporter asked what would happen to the oil seized from said tanker, or the ship itself, Trump replied: "Well, we keep it, I guess," according to New York Times reporter Chris Cameron."
"The NYT goes on to cite an unnamed Trump administration official who, in the follow-up to that news conference, said that the tanker seized off the coast of Venezuela in international waters is named Skipper. Said official said the tanker was "carrying a false flag of nationality," and "was seized because of its past links to smuggling illicit Iranian oil, not because of ties to the Maduro regime, although it was carrying Venezuelan oil.""
President Donald Trump mentioned the seizure of a massive Venezuelan oil tanker during a news conference but provided no ownership or legal justification beyond saying it was seized for a very good reason. When asked about the fate of the oil and the ship, he replied, "Well, we keep it, I guess." An unnamed administration official identified the tanker as Skipper, said it flew a false flag, and attributed the seizure to past links to smuggling illicit Iranian oil rather than ties to the Maduro regime, though the ship carried Venezuelan oil. The action further escalates already high U.S.-Venezuela tensions following numerous deadly Caribbean strikes.
Read at Jezebel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]