admin
Watching the Biden era’s feckless foreign policy collapse has been painful, which is why Senator Bill Hagerty’s public praise for the Trump administration’s decisive action to seize sanctioned oil tankers felt like a breath of fresh air for patriotic Americans who want a government that defends our interests. Hagerty told Newsmax’s National Report that the administration’s enforcement sends a clear message: we will not tolerate the shadow fleets and illicit oil trades that bankroll tyrants and terrorists.
This was not a paper tiger. U.S. forces moved to interdict multiple tankers linked to Venezuela and its sanctions-evasion networks, including lengthy pursuits of vessels such as the Bella-1 (later known as Marinera) and other stateless or falsely flagged ships, in operations the United States says targeted sanctioned cargo. Reporters on the scene described coordinated Coast Guard and military actions that culminated in boarding and seizure operations across the Caribbean and Atlantic.
Law enforcement, not fantasy diplomacy, made these moves possible: sealed warrants and interdiction orders — some later unsealed in heavily redacted form — authorized Coast Guard teams to take control of vessels operating as part of a sanctions-evasion “shadow fleet.” The administration has emphasized that these interdictions are built on legal tools and intelligence aimed at choking off cash flows to criminal networks and authoritarian kleptocrats.
Conservative security thinkers and former service members have rightly framed this as national security, not mere muscle-flexing: cutting off illicit oil sales is a direct strike at the money flows that sustain narco-terrorism and transnational criminal syndicates. The White House and allied voices argue these interdictions prevent oil revenues from funding violence and corruption, a pragmatic approach Republicans have championed while the left clucks about international law without offering alternatives.
Predictably, Moscow and Beijing cried foul and labeled the moves “piracy,” but that should hardly surprise anyone watching the global chessboard. When American resolve starts to deny cash to regimes that bankroll bad actors, our geopolitical adversaries howl — because our actions work. The international handwringing will never outweigh the security benefits of starving tyrants of revenue and protecting the rule of law for free nations.
Yes, there are cautious voices — even some Republicans — warning about escalation, and Democrats are using every opportunity to paint strength as recklessness. Senators like Rand Paul have called for oversight, and congressional scrutiny is appropriate; patriots should welcome accountability even as we applaud bold enforcement that protects American lives and values. Political theater from the left will always prefer appeasement and moral equivocation over hard choices that actually win.
If you believe, as I do, that America should lead with strength and principle, then this is the moment to stand behind leaders who act, not lecture. Seizing sanctioned tankers and dismantling shadow fleets is the kind of tough, unapologetic policy that defends our allies, punishes criminals, and puts American interests first — and conservatives should rally the country to see it through. The only real question now is whether Congress and the courts will back enforcement to the full extent necessary to finish the job.
