Trump's Trials - Trump administration says the U.S. seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

The Trump administration says it seized an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, as Congress presses for answers about U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats and the admiral overseeing the strikes retires.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Please let us know what you think of our show by filling out this quick survey. As a token of our appreciation, three respondents will be randomly selected to receive a $25 gift card.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's Terms from NPR. I'm Scott Debtzre. We're under invasion from within. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. We all serve at the pleasure of the president. The golden age of America is upon us. We are in the golden age. Every episode of Trump's terms, we bring you NPR's latest coverage of the 47th president.

With a focus on actions and policies he is pursuing on his own terms and in the process, taking the presidency into uncharted territory. Today's story starts right after this. On Wait, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, famous actors remember their days of obscurity, like when Pedro Pascal remembered the stress of being a waiter. The logistical labor of meeting everyone's needs in the right manner. You know, Act 1, the water, act through the drink. Listen to Wait, Wait, in the NPR app, or wherever you get your podcast.

Jeff Reed built special recorders to try to understand what the wolves of Yellowstone Park are saying to each other. When you first start hearing these chorus howls, they kind of sound like a cocktail party in the wild. Ideas about translating nature. Listen to the TED Radio Hour on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Maria Karina Machado has turned up outside her home country. She had been in hiding for more than a year. Karina Machado is the Venezuelan opposition leader who was unable to attend her own Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, this week.

And then she appeared in Oslo, where she has been talking with reporters. Some people talk about invasion in Venezuela, the threat of an invasion in Venezuela. And I answered, Venezuela has been already invaded. We have the Russian agents. We have the Iranian agents. We have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime.

This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas. Meanwhile, President Trump announced yesterday that the U.S. military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Attorney General Pam Bondi released a 45-second video showing what appears to be U.S. forces and the Coast Guard repelling from a helicopter onto the tanker. The U.S. military buildup has been underway near Venezuela in recent weeks, as Congress presses for answers about strikes on alleged drug-running boats. including a September 2nd incident in which U.S. forces killed two men who survived an initial round of fire. So much to talk about, so we have called Steve Walsh, who covers the military for W.HRO in Norfolk, Virginia.

Steve, good morning. Good morning, Steve. Why did the administration seize this oil tanker? Well, the details are just coming in, but after the president confirmed the seizure, Justice Department head Pam Bondi posted on social media that it was an oil tanker, U.S. authorities had been watching and that it was used to transnational. for sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. I want to clarify the law here.

Venezuela has already called this piracy. President Trump was asked, what are you going to do with the oil? He said, I guess we'll keep it. The U.S. just took the oil. Is there some legal basis for this? Well, there is a court order to do this, so this may not be part of a larger effort to seize, like, all the oil coming out of Venezuela.

Now, I want to ask about the broader U.S. military campaign in the Caribbean, Admiral Alvin Halsey, who had been overseeing the Venezuela boat strikes, is stepping down this week. How important is that? Well, we still have not heard a lot publicly about why Admiral Halsey is leaving. It's an incredibly unusual move for a top commander to leave one year into what is typically a three-year assignment. Halsey oversees Southern Command, which includes any military operation around South America. There had been some media accounts that Halsey had a run-in with Secretary of Defense Pete Hagseth, but again, Halsey is not commenting, and NPR has not confirmed that.

He submitted his resignation about a month after the first deadly strike in September against a boat in the Caribbean that killed four people, which the Trump administration claims was carrying drugs. I talked with a friend of Halsey. Retired, Rear Admiral Sinclair Harris hasn't spoken to Halsey since he announced he was resigning, but he says the man nicknamed Bull would not have acted out of emotion. Bull always evaluates everything based on his beliefs in his country, what the Constitution says, what his responsibilities are to higher authority, to the forces that are under him. I think all those things are probably part of what factored into whatever decision he made. Halsey did appear before lawmakers this week to try to address concerns over the ongoing boat strikes.

We don't know what was said, but reports him. that Halsey was at least diplomatic. Okay, so what happens now? Well, the fact remains that no top U.S. military official has really addressed lawmakers' concerns. They're still demanding both the video of that September 2nd strike and the legal

rationale. The administration says that it is used to carry out 22 strikes against alleged drugboats that have killed 87 people. WHOHRO's Steve Walsh in Norfolk. Thanks so much. Thanks, Steve. And before we go, we are asking for your feedback on this show. If you can, please take a short anonymous survey at npr.org slash December survey.

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Thanks. On NPR's Wildcard podcast, Jamie Lee Curtis talks about Hollywood's pressure to cover up aging. You can't hide the truth. We are who we are. And if that's ultimately what I get to represent in this lifetime, then I will feel it was a life well-lived. Watch or listen to that wildcard conversation on the NPR app or on YouTube at NPR Wildcard. This week on Here and Now Anytime, data centers and AI are driving up demand for electricity,

testing the ability of some states to stick to their climate goals. The Clean Power Crunch is giving geothermal energy a chance and bringing old nuclear plants out of retirement. That's this week on Here and Now Anytime, a podcast from NPR and WBUR. Making time for the news is important, but when you need a break, we've got you covered on All Songs Considered, NPR's music podcast. Think of it like a music discovery show, a well-deserved escape with friends, and, yeah, some serious music insight. I'm going to keep it real. I have no idea what the story is about. Hear new episodes of All Songs Considered every Tuesday, wherever you get podcasts.