Trump warns Maduro as US escalates pressure campaign on Venezuela

President Donald Trump issued a warning to Nicolas Maduro (Alex Brandon/AP)

President Donald Trump delivered a new warning to VenezuelanPresident Nicolas Maduro as the US Coast Guard stepped up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the administration’s escalating pressure campaign on the government in Caracas.

Mr Trump was surrounded by his top national security aides, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, as he suggested that he remains ready to further escalate his four-month pressure campaign on the Maduro government, which began with the stated purpose of stemming the flow of illegal drugs from the South American nation but has developed into something more amorphous.

President Nicolas Maduro (Ariana Cubillos/AP)

Mr Trump said of Mr Maduro: “If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’ll ever be able to play tough.”

The president took a break from his Florida holiday vacation to announce plans for the Navy to build a new, large warship.

Mr Trump levied his latest threat as the Us Coast Guard continued to chase a sanctioned oil tanker for a second day.

The Trump administration described the tanker as part of a “dark fleet” Venezuela is using to evade US sanctions.

The tanker, according to the White House, is flying under a false flag and is under a US judicial seizure order.

“It’s moving along and we’ll end up getting it,” Mr Trump said.

It is the third tanker pursued by the Coast Guard, which on Saturday seized a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries that US officials said was part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet.

President Donald Trump announced plans for the Navy to build a new large warship (Alex Brandon/AP)

The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a sanctioned tanker called Skipper on December 10, also part of the shadow fleet of tankers that the US says operates on the fringes of the law to move sanctioned cargo. That ship was registered in Panama.

After that first seizure, Mr Trump said the US would carry out a “blockade” of Venezuela and has repeatedly said that Mr Maduro’s days in power are numbered.

Last week, Mr Trump demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from US oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a blockade against sanctioned oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, said that the targeting of tankers is intended to send “a message around the world that the illegal activity that Maduro is participating in cannot stand, he needs to be gone, and that we will stand up for our people”.