White House deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka told Newsmax on Wednesday that the tanker seized by U.S. forces off the coast of Venezuela is part of a growing "shadow fleet" of vessels used by hostile regimes to evade sanctions and skirt international law.
Speaking on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Gorka said the ship fits a pattern of illicit maritime activity tied to nations such as Venezuela and Iran — activity the U.S. can no longer ignore.
"This is a member of a shadow fleet," Gorka said. "The attempts to evade sanctions, and also to just do an end run around international law with flags of convenience — we're not going to allow this anymore."
Gorka's comments came hours after President Donald Trump confirmed that the United States had taken control of an oil tanker operating off the coast of Venezuela, though he offered few specifics about the operation. Trump said only that the vessel was seized "for very good reason."
Gorka praised the seizure as a move that aligns with a stronger national security posture outlined in the president's newly released national security strategy.
"So whether it's Venezuela or whether it's other countries like Iran that are making money in ways that are illegal and counter the U.S. national interest, as elucidated so very, very eloquently in the president's national security strategy that we published on Friday, we are very serious," he said.
Gorka emphasized that U.S. interdictions will extend across the full spectrum of illegal maritime operations, from narcotics smuggling to oil tankers operating in violation of sanctions.
"Whether it's drug boats, whether it's illegal tankers, we're going to take action where we see fit and where it threatens our national security interests as the United States," he said.
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