Trump sanctions Maduro’s nephews after White House confirms oil tanker crew will be released: Latest updates

Also during yesterday’s briefing, the White House press secretary came under pressure about Trump’s remarks to an audience in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, earlier this week in which he suggested that they should consider buying fewer toys this Christmas because young girls “don’t need 37 dolls” and can make do with “two or three” in response to the impact of his tariffs.

Leavitt initially answered that the president had meant to encourage parents to spend more on better quality, American-made gifts but was put on the spot by The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg, who questioned whether it was appropriate for a billionaire to be lecturing the public on austerity.

Here’s his report on what followed.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had this to say about the tanker during yesterday’s briefing session with journalists:

President Donald Trump’s administration has placed further pressure on Venezuela by sanctioning three nephews of the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro, a day after the U.S. seized one of its oil tankers in a dramatic escalation of existing tensions.

Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores and Efrain Campo will all be sanctioned, as will Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero, six firms and six Venezuela-flagged ships, all of which are accused of transporting sanctioned oil, according to a list published by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday.

The White House has meanwhile said the U.S. will keep the oil being carried aboard the Skipper supertanker that was seized by American forces Wednesday but will release its crew once it docks at the Port of Galveston in Texas.

The administration posted dramatic footage of the joint operation that saw members of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard lowered onto the deck of the vessel from a helicopter to take it over.

Here’s Graig Graziosi on the reasons given by the administration for its aggressions towards the country, which threatens to spill over into all out war.

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of President Donald Trump and his administration with the latest on the seized Venezuelan oil tanker and the escalating tensions between the two countries.