‘Trump is sleepwalking us into war’

There is growing concern among US lawmakers in Washington, including some Republicans, who condemn the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker and in relation to the Trump administration’s growing military presence in the Caribbean.

Senior Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican have condemned the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker off the country’s coast on Wednesday, with one claiming that Donald Trump is “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela.”

Discomfort is growing in Washington, at least partly bipartisan, with the government’s escalating military presence in the region. Trump accused Venezuela of facilitating drug trafficking and increased the US military presence in the Caribbean to a level unprecedented in decades. The government also carried out a bombing campaign against suspected drug trafficking boats, which has killed more than 80 people.

Trump confirmed the oil tanker seizure shortly after it happened, telling reporters: “We just seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela – a big, very big oil tanker, the biggest ever seized, in fact.” When asked what would happen to oil, Trump responded, “We’ll keep oil, I guess!”

Images show American forces taking control of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela – video

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who sits on the Senate’s foreign relations committee, said the oil tanker’s seizure indicates that the government is being dishonest about its military operations in the region.

“It demonstrates that the whole story they tell – that it’s about intercepting drugs – is a big lie,” Van Hollen said. “This is just further proof that, in fact, the goal is regime change – by force.”

Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky, told News Nation that “seizing an oil tanker is the start of a war” and questioned whether “it is the role of the American government to go looking for monsters around the world, looking for adversaries and starting wars.”

Chris Coons, a Democratic senator, also said he was alarmed by the government’s actions, telling the broadcaster: “I have no idea why the president is seizing an oil tanker and I am very concerned that he is leading us, without us realizing it, into a war with Venezuela.”

Mark Warner, also a Democratic senator, highlighted what he characterized as inconsistent priorities, posting on social media: “So they can seize an oil tanker but not a drug trafficking boat?”

When asked by CNN whether he opposed Trump’s goal of promoting regime change in Venezuela, Chuck Schumer refused to answer, saying Trump’s erratic messaging made it impossible to know his true intentions.

“The thing is, President Trump says so many different things in so many different ways that you don’t even know what the hell he’s talking about,” the Senate minority leader said.

“Obviously, if Maduro just fled on his own, everyone would like that,” he said, adding, however, that the lack of clarity made it impossible to endorse specific policies.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations Division and Coast Guard served a warrant to seize the vessel, which she said had been transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran for years as part of a network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.

The Venezuelan government called the seizure “a brazen theft and an act of international piracy,” claiming it reveals that US aggression “has always targeted our natural resources, our oil, our energy.”

Not everyone was opposed. When Ted Cruz, Republican senator from Texas, was asked about his reaction to the oil tanker seizure, he deflected and said that Trump was saving American lives by combating drug trafficking.

In November, when Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command condemned the act as a “flagrant violation of international law” that undermined freedom of navigation and commerce.

Adam Schiff, a Democratic senator from California, called the situation a “very dangerous escalation and a prelude to potential conflict.” Last week, he and Paul, along with Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and Schumer, introduced a war powers resolution aimed at preventing the administration’s military involvement with Venezuela without congressional approval.

The administration has deployed what it describes as the largest naval presence in the Caribbean since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, ostensibly to target what Trump called “narco-terrorists.” But U.S. drug officials noted in a May report that fentanyl enters the U.S. primarily through Chinese producers and Mexican criminal organizations, while cocaine comes primarily from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.

Originally published by The Guardian on 12/11/2025

By José Gedeon in Washington