U.S. forces boarded an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea early Friday, the military said, the latest operation tied to the Trump administration’s effort to control Venezuela’s oil exports.

The U.S. military’s Southern Command made the announcement hours after President Donald Trump praised cooperation from Venezuela’s new leaders, including the release of some political prisoners. Trump said that more U.S. attacks on Venezuela “will not be needed” but that U.S. warships off the country’s coast would stay in place.

The tanker, the Olina, was the fifth that U.S. forces have boarded or seized in the past month.

Trump administration officials have outlined a sweeping but bare-bones plan to take control of selling oil from Venezuela indefinitely. The details emerged after Trump said Venezuela would soon hand over tens of millions of barrels of oil to the United States.

Trump Was Expected to Meet Oil Companies

Trump was expected to meet Friday with executives from 14 oil companies to discuss developing Venezuela’s oil infrastructure. He said on Truth Social that oil companies would invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela, although he did not elaborate.

In an early-morning Truth Social post, Trump said he had canceled a “previously expected second Wave of Attacks” against Venezuela. Seven political prisoners were freed Thursday, in what appeared to be a modest gesture since the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro. Trump called the releases “very important” and said they showed that the interim government was working well with his administration.

After the raid on Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, last week, Trump said he was “prepared to do a second wave” of attacks if needed. His latest post suggests he has shelved that idea for now.

More prisoners were supposed to be freed Friday. Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said the releases were being “made with sincere intentions toward peace.” He did not say how many would be released. Rights groups estimate that 800 to 900 political prisoners are incarcerated in Venezuela, many under harsh conditions.

The White House said in a statement that the releases were “one example of how the president is using maximum leverage to do right by the American and Venezuelan people,” though Trump has been far more focused on getting U.S. companies a piece of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Here’s What Else to Know:

— Political prisoners: Among the first prisoners released in Venezuela was Rocío San Miguel, a prominent security expert who had investigated Maduro’s authoritarian government until she was detained in February 2024.

— Diplomacy: A team of U.S. officials arrived in Caracas on Friday, as the Trump administration explores the possibility of reopening the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, the State Department said.

— Machado visit: Trump indicated that he would meet next week in Washington with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has offered to give him the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded last year as thanks for capturing Maduro. Trump told Hannity in the Fox News interview that if she offered him the prize, “it would be a great honor” to accept it.

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Jack Nicas, Emma Bubola, Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, Genevieve Glatsky and Eric Schmitt/Doug Mills
c. 2026 The New York Times Company