The White House isn’t ruling out further action against Venezuela — including seizing more ships — after the U.S. Coast Guard seized a large oil tanker on Wednesday off the country’s coast.
The posture leaves the door open for more aggressive action to stymie the country’s oil industry, its largest source of revenue.
The Treasury Department also announced Thursday afternoon that it would target six shipping companies and six individual vessels with new sanctions for operating deceptive shipping practices and funding the Venezuelan government run by Nicolás Maduro, whom the Trump administration does not recognize as the legitimate president.