Sen. John Kennedy defends Trump oil tanker seizures from Venezuela to China

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., defended the Trump administration’s seizure of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, arguing the enforcement of U.S. sanctions is legal, overdue and already hitting the Maduro regime’s bottom line.

“This is illegal oil being moved in illegal tankers. We have judicial warrants to seize those tankers. It’s about time we did it,” Kennedy said on “Hannity” Monday.

Kennedy dismissed claims that the seizures are unlawful.

“Sanctions are worthless unless you enforce the sanctions,” Kennedy said, adding that the oil and ships were sanctioned and “flying under a false flag.”

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“They’ve been doing that for a long time. And we didn’t enforce the sanctions,” Kennedy said. “So now we’re doing it. And it is hurting the Maduro regime. Good. I’ll take a dozen of them.”

A crude oil tanker waits its turn to be loaded with crude oil at Lake Maracaibo in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela, on May 9, 2025.  (Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)

Kennedy called the Venezuelan government a “criminal organization,” accusing President Nicolás Maduro of profiting “by selling poison to our kids” and trafficking illegal oil.

He claimed Venezuela’s oil is being funneled to China, India and Cuba, singling out Havana as particularly vulnerable.

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“Cuba gets 40 to 50% of its oil from Venezuela,” Kennedy said. “Without that oil, the communist regime in Cuba will eventually fail.”

“I think we ought to choke off Venezuela’s money. We got them down. Let’s choke them to death.”

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The Louisiana senator said he has “great sympathy for the people of Venezuela,” but “no sympathy for the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro.”

Any lawmakers who do, he added, “ought to ask for their money back on their GED.”