The US says it has seized an oil tanker with links to Russia and Venezuela, as well as another vessel in the Caribbean. It comes after the White House suggested US military action in Greenland is “always an option”. Follow live below.
Wednesday 7 January 2026 17:15, UK
Karoline Leavitt now turns her attention to the Venezuelan-linked Marinera tanker – originally known as the Bella 1.
The vessel was seized by US forces between Iceland and Scotland earlier today, as we’ve been reporting.
“The vessel this morning was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a US federal court after being tracked,” she says.
“This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that has transported sanctioned oil, and the United States of America, under this president, is not going to tolerate that.
“The vessel had a judicial seizure order on the crew, so that means the crew is now subject to prosecution for any applicable violation of federal law, and they will be brought to the United States for such prosecution if necessary.”
Russia, as we reported earlier, has called for their return (see 3.57pm).
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is then asked about the announcement made by Donald Trump yesterday on Venezuelan oil.
She says the oil will be arriving to the US “very soon”.
“The United States government has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude oil on the global marketplace for the benefit of the United States,” Leavitt says.
All proceeds from the sale of the oil and products will first settle in US-controlled accounts at globally recognised banks, before the funds are dispersed “for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the United States government”, she adds.
After taking questions to do with a domestic health-related announcement, Karoline Leavitt has now been asked about Venezuela.
“This is the first time that I’ve addressed Venezuela from the podium since being back and since the historic and incredibly successful military operation, law enforcement operation conducted by our US military,” she says.
Leavitt goes on to pay tribute to “the skill [and] the might” of the military, and says the operation couldn’t have been pulled off by any other force in the world.
“The Trump administration is in close correspondence with interim authorities in Venezuela. We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now, and the president has made it very clear that this is a country that is no longer going to be sending illegal drugs to the United States of America,” she adds.
Our US correspondent Martha Kelner asked Marco Rubio about US plans for Venezuela.
She points out some senators have briefed that Donald Trump’s team is “winging it” when it comes to Venezuela.
But Rubio insisted they have gone into “great detail”.
“The bottom line is we’ve gone into great detail with them about the planning,” he said, referring to senators.
“We’ve described a time, in fact, it’s not just winging it. It’s not just saying or speculating. It’s going to happen. It’s already happening.”
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has told reporters Donald Trump “isn’t messing around” when he speaks about the US military.
Hegseth defends the military, saying it has carried out “one of the most historic missions the world has ever seen”, and adds that the world is “taking notice”.
“It continues because two oil tankers, two overnight, were seized by the United States of America,” he says.
“Our military is prepared to continue this. The president, when he speaks, he means it.”
Before stepping away to brief the House in Washington, Marco Rubio tells reporters he wants to make one more point.
“One of those ships that were seized that had oil in the Caribbean, you know what the interim authorities are asking for in Venezuela? They want that oil that was seized to be part of this deal,” he says.
“They understand that the only way they can move oil and generate revenue and not have economic collapse is if they cooperate and work with the United States.”
Rubio says the US has a three-step plan for Venezuela that will begin with stabilising the country, overseeing its recovery and finally a transition.
He also says the US is in the midst of executing a deal to take 30-50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela.
As we’ve been reporting this afternoon, the US has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela after seizing a separate tanker linked to the South American nation.
The sanctioned Russian-flagged tanker, originally known as the Bella 1 and now called the Marinera, is now in US custody, the United States European Command has confirmed.
The other vessel was seized in the Caribbean.
Marco Rubio is asked if he is worried about the people of Venezuela waking up to the same regime.
“The bottom line is that there is a process now in place where we have tremendous control and leverage over what those interim authorities are doing and are able to do. But obviously, this will be a process of transition,” Rubio says.
“In the end, it will be up to the Venezuelan people to transform their country.”
Asked how long this might take, he says: “I’m not going to give you a timeline on it. We want it to move as soon as possible.
“It’s been four days since this happened. I understand that in the cycle and society we now live in, everyone wants instant outcomes. They want it to happen overnight.
“It’s not going to work that way, but we are already seeing progress with this new deal that’s been announced and more deals to follow.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also speaking to reporters in Washington.
Asked if he would take military intervention in Greenland off the table, he says: “I’m not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention. I’ll be meeting with them next week.
“We’ll have those conversations with them then.
“But I don’t have anything further to add to that.”
Both Denmark and Greenland said in separate statements yesterday that they had made a “strong” request to meet with Rubio to discuss the Trump administration’s comments on the latter.
Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland “is not new”, Rubio says.
“He talked about it in his first term, and he’s not the first US president that has examined or looked at how we could acquire Greenland. There’s an interest there.”
Karoline Leavitt has started her first news briefing of the year.
You can watch the live stream at the top of this page.
We’ll be listening in for any relevant updates on Venezuela and Greenland – and of course any updates on the seized tanker.
A senior politician from Vladimir Putin’s party has slammed the US seizure of the Marinera, which was sailing under a temporary permit to use the Russian flag.
The operation was an act of “outright piracy”, said Andrei Klishas, a member of the upper house of Russia’s parliament, according to the TASS state news agency.
Klishas played an important role in the 2020 constitutional role that allowed Vladimir Putin to stay in power past previous term limits.
He was also called “a soldier of Putin in the war against the internet” by the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny over his proposals to limit freedom of expression online.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free