In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation.
By Joshua Scheer
On December 20, 2025, U.S. officials said American forces interdicted and seized a vessel in international waters off the Venezuelan coast as part of a broader effort to enforce sanctions and curb illicit oil shipments tied to Caracas. The operation, led by the U.S. Coast Guard with military support, comes just days after President Trump ordered a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, a move that has sharply reduced Venezuelan crude exports and raised regional tensions. U.S. authorities framed the interdiction as part of efforts to disrupt financing for narco-terrorism, while Venezuelan leaders have condemned the action as an attempt to control their oil resources.
Just a day earlier, Trump said he wanted Venezuela’s oil because he claimed it belonged to the United States, and he is now acting on that promise. Trump’s argument is that Venezuelan oil “belongs” to American companies because they were expelled decades ago.
The architect behind this is Stephen Miller, the Trump aide who helped craft the administration’s draconian immigration policies. What originally began as a focus on the drug trade in Mexico has since shifted toward Venezuela. Miller has publicly framed Venezuela’s oil nationalization as a form of “theft” from U.S. companies, arguing that “American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela.” He has repeatedly echoed President Trump’s claim that Venezuela’s oil assets, expropriated decades ago, should be “returned” to U.S. interests. These statements have underpinned the administration’s rationale for aggressive measures, including sanctions and naval actions, aimed at pressuring the Maduro government and safeguarding American corporate access to Venezuelan oil reserves.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long championed regime change in Venezuela, was pressed on the issue today. Rubio faced pointed questions from reporters on Thursday about whether the United States is aiming for regime change in Venezuela.
At a year‑end press briefing in Washington, Rubio was asked directly about remarks from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who recently suggested that ongoing U.S. military actions in the Caribbean — including strikes on boats the administration says are tied to drug trafficking — are intended to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down.
A reporter bluntly asked: “Why not just acknowledge this is a regime change?” Rubio didn’t embrace that language outright, but he made clear the current situation with the Maduro regime is unacceptable to the United States.
“It is clear that the current status quo with the Venezuelan regime is intolerable for the United States…”
While he didn’t explicitly mention a regime change, their framework clearly implies that as the intention. Here is the full end-of-year press briefing:
You can read more about this developing story here, including Maduro‘s response.
The continuation of Trump’s Monroe Doctrine is in full effect: punishing countries he disagrees with while allowing those that share his right-wing ideology to thrive. In at least one case involving a major narco-trafficker, this approach violates all rules of common sense, showing that the regime doesn’t even care about maintaining the appearance of propriety. On the daily, there’s a story after story that demonstrates this.
Here’s reporting from Breakthrough News connecting the dots on the Stephen Miller issue and the ongoing war effort. I’m including two videos: the first is the more recent one, and the second, from about a month ago, explores the deeper reasons why Venezuela is a target.

Here’s number 2

In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation.