US President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that his administration intercepted and seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a move that intensifies Washington's pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro.

“We just seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a big tanker, a very big tanker, the biggest ever seized, actually,” he declared at the start of a roundtable discussion with business leaders at the White House.

Hours earlier, Bloomberg had exclusively reported that a vessel sanctioned by the US had been detained in waters near Venezuela, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Trump did not provide details on the matter, but said it was an “interesting day.” He also hinted that more news, including photos, would be released, but did not specify a timeframe. “They will discuss it with the appropriate people later. But no, it was seized for a very good reason,” he added. The news of the seizure comes after Trump told Politico, in an interview published Tuesday, that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s days were numbered, though he declined to comment on whether the United States might send troops to the country. Blow to Venezuelan Exports The seizure could add a further obstacle to Venezuela’s already limited ability to place its oil on the international market. Experts believe the operation could intimidate other carriers, who might refrain from operating routes linked to PDVSA for fear of retaliation or further sanctions. Although the Venezuelan oil industry operates under severe restrictions, state-owned PDVSA maintains joint drilling operations with the American Chevron, which has a special license from the Treasury Department that exempts it from direct sanctions.

Coincidence with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Maria Corina Machado

The announcement comes on the same day that Oslo celebrated the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who did not attend the ceremony but assured that she will arrive in the Norwegian capital in the coming hours.

The award has increased international attention on the country's political and humanitarian situation, as well as on the confrontation between Washington and Caracas.

Washington intensifies military and judicial pressure

The Trump administration maintains that Nicolas Maduro heads a criminal network linked to the so-called "Cartel of the Suns," an accusation that Caracas categorically rejects.

Since September, the U.S. Armed Forces have reported the destruction of more than twenty vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, identified as suspected drug shipments, resulting in the deaths of dozens of crew members during the operations.

For his part, Maduro has called on citizens to join popular militias and prepare for what he described as a direct threat of invasion.

Controversy over one of the attacks in the Caribbean

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has come under scrutiny for a September 2 attack on a ship, which included a second hit and resulted in the deaths of two survivors of the initial attack. Critics have questioned whether the double hit constituted a war crime.

Hegseth defended the attack, saying he did not personally see the survivors before approving another strike, citing the “fog of war.”

Bipartisan lawmakers in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have launched investigations into the administration's attacks on these ships.