U.S. tensions with Venezuela have reached an all-time high as President Trump declared on Truth Social that Nicolás Maduro’s regime would be designated a foreign terrorist organization and imposed a comprehensive oil blockade.

In his post, the president announced a “total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into, and out of, Venezuela.” He further stated that Maduro’s regime is responsible for “the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking.”

“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump wrote. “It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

The president also accused Maduro’s regime of using stolen oil to fund “Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping.”

This action follows years of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela since 2005, during which the Trump administration blocked all crude exports from Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to the United States in 2019. In March, Trump revoked Chevron’s operating license in Venezuela but later reissued it under conditions that no proceeds would benefit Maduro.

Venezuela’s oil reserves are the world’s largest, but international sanctions have limited production capacity. Much of the country’s oil is sold to China.

Venezuelan officials condemned the announcement as “a reckless and serious threat.”