Trump on seized Venezuelan oil: "We're gonna keep it"

Why it matters: Trump's policy of seizing ships and their Venezuelan oil could bring a financial windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars to the U.S. government — but it furthers accusations that his pressure campaign on Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro amounts to oil-grabbing piracy.

• It threatens to escalate tensions with China, which buys as much as 75% of Venezuela's oil.

Zoom in: The Trump administration has three options, experts and administration officials say, in keeping the oil from the two ships it began interdicting Dec. 10:

1. Sell it on the open market and use the proceeds to fund government.
2. Allow U.S.-based businesses with $20.5 billion in court-approved claims against Venezuela's regime lay claim to the oil
3. Keep the oil outright and store it in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the nation's crude stockpile.

The intrigue: Trump made clear he hasn't made up his mind on which option, but giving it back appears out of the question for now.

• "Maybe we'll sell it," he said. "Maybe we'll keep it in the strategic reserves. We're keeping the ships, also."

Reality check: That last threat to "keep the ships" could be complicated in the case of one of the seized vessels, Centuries, which was not under sanction when it was boarded Saturday by the U.S. Coast Guard.

• Centuries was carrying at least 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude estimated at more than $90 million.
• China's government condemned the interdiction of the ship, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company but flew a Panamanian flag.
• U.S. officials accused the Centuries of flying under a false flag and said the boarding was legal under a treaty with Panama which was notified of the interdiction, Axios first reported.
• The other vessel, Skipper, was boarded Dec. 10 by the U.S. It had been previously sanctioned by the U.S., which received a court order previously to seizing the tanker and its nearly 1.9 million barrels of oil (unlike Centuries).

Zoom out: Trump's pressure campaign on Venezuela has global implications. Not only is China the main consumer of the country's oil, much of it is shipped on tankers under sanction or under the threat of sanction for financing terrorists and rogue regimes and activities in Iran, Russia and Cuba.

Between the lines: Fernando Ferreira, director of geopolitical risks for Washington-based Rapidan Energy, said the U.S. can seize the oil legally by following an "asset forfeiture" procedure in federal court where the government would file a claim against the oil itself.

• "The legitimate owner would have to come in and defend it. And if they lose the claim, the U.S. government takes legal possession," Ferreira said.
• Ferreira noted that, in 2023, the Department of Justice effectuated the seizing of a non-sanctioned vessel called the Suez Rajan carrying sanctioned Iranian oil, which the U.S. then sold at a profit.
• "It's not unprecedented. It's just unprecedented with Venezuela because it hasn't happened before," Ferreira said. "The rest of the world has recognized these sanctions. So it really shouldn't come as that much of a surprise."

Go deeper: U.S. boards un-sanctioned tanker with Venezuelan oil to tighten blockade