The U.S. intends to take all the oil contained in the tanker seized off the coast of Venezuela, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday as she faced questions on the potentially escalatory action and its fallout.
"The vessel will go to a U.S. port and the United States does intend to seize the oil. However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed," Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing.
Leavitt said an investigative team is on the ground as the tanker undergoes the forfeiture process. Individuals onboard the vessel are being interviewed and evidence is being collected, she added.
After announcing on Wednesday that the U.S. had seized the oil tanker, President Donald Trump was asked what happens to the oil on the ship.
"We keep it, I guess," Trump said.
Leavitt on Thursday dismissed assertions that the tanker seizure was an act of escalation against Venezuela or that Trump would plunge the U.S. into a prolonged war.
"Prolonged war is definitely not something this president is interested in," she said. "He's been very clear about that. He wants peace. He also wants to see the end of illegal drugs being trafficked into the United States and taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans across our country."
The Venezuelan government called the tanker's seizure "a blatant robbery and an act of international piracy." Venezuela has the largest known oil reserves in the world, and oil exports are the government’s main source of revenue.
US seizes tanker off coast of Venezuela, Trump says
The vessel, known as "The Skipper," was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard and other U.S. agencies on Wednesday. It was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022. According to a 2022 Treasury Department notice, the tanker was one of several vessels used for illicit oil shipments by a Gulf-based businessman named Viktor Artemov.
According to sources familiar with the warrant, which remains under seal, a judge signed off on the warrant nearly two weeks ago because of the vessel's previous alleged role in smuggling Iranian oil. The New York Times first reported the details of the warrant.
Leavitt was pressed on Thursday whether the seizure was a one-off. She declined to give any specifics.
"Well, I won't broadcast any future actions from the administration, but I will just reiterate that the Trump administration is executing on the president's sanction policies and the sanction policies of the United States, and we're not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil," Leavitt said.
Trump announced the seizure at a business roundtable event on Wednesday, and said that "other things are happening," but declined to go into further detail.
The seizure comes amid what the Trump administration has called its "war" on drug cartels. The military has conducted more than 20 strikes on alleged drug boats since September in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
It also marked a significant step in the administration's pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
On Thursday, the administration imposed new sanctions on three of Maduro's nephews as well as six vessels shipping Venezuelan oil, a Maduro-affiliated businessman and six shipping companies moving Venezuelan oil. The sanctions are meant to deny the individuals and entities access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S., and the penalties are intended to prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.
“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, adding that the sanctions hold Maduro’s "regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes."
Asked if the tanker operation was about drugs or oil, Leavitt suggested it was both.
"There are two things that are very important to this administration. No. 1, stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United States of America, which we know has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. The president promised on the campaign trail that he would demolish the foreign terrorist organizations and drug cartels around the world, especially right here in our own hemisphere," she said.
"With respect to the oil and what happened yesterday, the Department of Justice requested and was approved for a warrant to seize a vessel because it's a sanctioned shadow vessel known for carrying black market sanctioned oil to the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], which, as you know, is a sanctioned entity. So, the president is committed to stopping the illegal flow of drugs into our country. He's also fully committed to effectuating this administration's sanction policy," Leavitt said. "And that's what you saw, and the the world saw, take place yesterday."
@ ABC News' Anne Flaherty and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

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