Trump keeps war option open with Venezuela, orders oil tanker seizures

US President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, according to an interview with NBC News published on Friday.

 

"I don't rule it out, no," he told NBC News in a phone interview.

 

Trump also said there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters, according to the interview. The US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week.

 

"If they're foolish enough to be sailing along, they'll be sailing along back into one of our harbors," he told NBC News.

 

On Tuesday, Trump ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government, targeting its main source of income, following which Venezuela's government said it rejected Trump's "grotesque threat."

 

Trump's pressure campaign on Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed at least 90 people.

 

Trump has also previously said that US land strikes on the South American country will soon start.

 

In his NBC interview, Trump declined to say whether removing Maduro was his ultimate goal, telling NBC News: "He knows exactly what I want."

 

"He knows better than anybody," Trump added, referring to Maduro. The report did not elaborate.

 

Maduro has alleged that the US action is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation's oil resources, which are the world's largest crude reserves.

 

The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.