His administration is also imposing new sanctions targeting vessels and shipping companies linked to its oil sector, as well as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s relatives.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said: “We’ll start that on land too. It’s going to be starting on land pretty soon.”
When asked if the campaign against Venezuela is still about drugs, or also about oil, Trump claimed maritime drug trafficking has dropped by 92 percent.
The latest actions came after the United States seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela earlier this week.
The Treasury Department issued a statement saying it is targeting the ships and firms because they help fund what it calls Maduro’s “corrupt narco-terrorist regime.”
It also said it is sanctioning three nephews of Maduro’s wife for their involvement in drug trafficking.
In the statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Maduro and his “criminal associates” of flooding the US with drugs that are “poisoning the American people.”
