Trump announces ‘final’ 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran regime

President Donald Trump announced what he described as an immediate and “final” trade order targeting Iran and its global partners.

In a post shared on Truth Social, Trump said any country that continues doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran would be hit with a 25% tariff on all trade with the U.S.

The president wrote: “Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America. This Order is final and conclusive. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” 

The post came amid heightened tension with Iran as the country entered its fifteenth day of spiraling protests in which hundreds of people have been reported to have been killed since Dec. 28.

IRAN PROTESTS PROMPT NEW TRUMP WARNING OVER DEADLY GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWNS

According to the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA), the deaths of 544 people have been confirmed so far and “dozens of additional cases remain under review.”

Trump’s trade tariff announcement, which could impact China, Brazil, Turkey and Russia, also came as U.S. officials urged citizens to consider leaving Iran, according to a Department of State statement.

“U.S. citizens should expect continued internet outages, plan alternative means of communication, and, if safe to do so, consider departing Iran by land to Armenia or Türkiye,” the statement said.

Officials also urged citizens to avoid demonstrations, keep a low profile, and remain aware of their surroundings.

The statement confirmed that protests across Iran were intensifying and may turn violent, resulting in arrests and injuries.

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“Protests across Iran are escalating and may turn violent, resulting in arrests and injuries,” the statement said.

“Increased security measures, road closures, public transportation disruptions, and internet blockages are ongoing. The Government of Iran has restricted access to mobile, landline, and national internet networks. Airlines continue to limit or cancel flights to and from Iran, with several suspending service until Friday, January 16,” the statement read.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Iran may also already have over eight American citizens and residents in its captivity based on information from sources outside the Trump administration who are well-versed with Tehran’s hostage-taking policy system.

Monday also saw Tehran say it was keeping communication channels with Washington open as Trump weighed how to respond to its deadly crackdown. Trump had said Sunday that Iran “wants to negotiate.”

TRUMP’S IRAN BRIEFING MAY BE ‘DECEPTION CAMPAIGN’ TO MASK MOVES ALREADY UNDERWAY, EXPERT SAYS

“We might meet with them. A meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what is happening before the meeting, but a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.

While airstrikes were one of many alternatives open to Trump, “diplomacy is always the first option for the president,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

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“What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said.

Five severed heads found hanging on Ecuador beach amid escalating gang clashes

Five severed human heads were found hanging from ropes on a beach in southwestern Ecuador Sunday in a gruesome display linked to ongoing gang violence sweeping across the country, according to reports.

The killings came amid a wave of bloody violence tied to drug trafficking and organized crime, which has surged across Ecuador in recent years.

The Associated Press reported that the grim discovery underscores the tactics used by criminal groups competing for control of territory and trafficking routes, especially along the country’s coastline.

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Police said the heads were found on a tourist beach in the small fishing port of Puerto Lopez, in Manabi province.

The images shared by Ecuadorian media and on social media showed the severed heads tied with ropes to wooden poles planted in the sand, with blood visible at the scene.

A wooden sign left beside the heads carried a threatening message aimed at alleged extortionists targeting local fishermen.

The message warned those demanding so-called “vaccine cards” protection payments commonly extorted by gangs that they had been identified, the report said.

RUBIO IDENTIFIES ‘SINGLE MOST SERIOUS THREAT’ TO THE US FROM WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Authorities said the display was likely the result of a conflict between criminal groups operating in the area.

Drug-trafficking networks with links to transnational cartels are active along Ecuador’s coast and have used fishermen and their small boats to transport illicit shipments, according to local police.

President Daniel Noboa launched an armed campaign against gangs and declared states of emergency in several provinces, including Manabi, deploying the military to support police operations.

Despite his efforts, violence has continued to escalate with police increasing patrols and surveillance in Puerto Lopez following recent massacres in the province, The Associated Press said.

MS-13 GANG LEADER ACCUSED IN MURDER OF EX-HONDURAN PRESIDENT’S SON ARRESTED IN NEBRASKA

In 2025, at least nine people, including a baby, were killed there in an attack that authorities blamed on clashes between local gangs also.

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As previously reported by Fox News Digital, in 2025, infighting between factions of a gang vying for control over territory in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, left nearly two dozen people dead.

Ecuador ended the year with a record homicide rate of 52 per 100,000 people, according to the Organized Crime Observatory, making it the deadliest year on record.

Heritage Foundation warns America ‘dangerously close’ to family breakdown point of no return

A new report from the Heritage Foundation argues the American family is in crisis and that strengthening marriage and family formation should be a core focus of U.S. federal policy.

The conservative think tank calls for sweeping policy changes to reverse declining birth and marriage rates, including a proposed $2,500 investment account for every newborn child, as well as other proposals.

The report says government policies “should encourage and protect the formation of families, not mere fertility.”

“The country should not seek a mere boost in the number of children born or in the monetary support that parents receive, the report says. “Yes, the country needs more children. But it matters how and to whom children are born. Society depends on men and women who want to form families, that is, who freely want to marry, and then freely bear and nurture children.”

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The think tank assesses that decades of cultural change and public policy have contributed to the erosion of family formation, pointing to historically low fertility and marriage rates and a growing share of children raised outside married-parent households. The report ties the decline of the family to broader social and economic problems facing the country.

The report argues that traditional family structure remains essential, describing the family as “the foundation of civilization” and defining marriage — one man and one woman — as the ideal environment for raising children.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts warned that the country is nearing a point of no return when it comes to family breakdown.

“The family is the foundation of every healthy society, and, tragically, the American family is on the brink,” Roberts said in a statement. “We are dangerously close to being unable to reverse the decline. Our country will not survive if families continue to crumble at this rate.”

Roberts said the stakes extend beyond family life to the nation’s future itself.

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“If we want to secure the Golden Age of America, we must have bold solutions like those in this report that lay the foundation for stronger families,” he said. “Strong families build strong communities, churches, schools, and businesses. Without them, freedom cannot last.”

The report also criticizes welfare and government programs, arguing they often “punish marriage and family formation” by creating financial incentives that make marriage less attractive. It frames family decline not as inevitable but as the result of policy choices and calls for a “culture-wide Manhattan Project” to rebuild family norms.

To reverse the trend, the report recommends eliminating so-called marriage penalties in welfare programs, requiring federal agencies to review policies for their impact on marriage and family and encouraging policies that strengthen traditional families at all levels of government.

It also proposes financial incentives, including baby investment accounts seeded with $2,500 at birth, which the report says could help families build long-term financial stability. 

Other proposed incentives include expanded adoption and child tax credits.

The report also advocates for efforts to discourage online dating and the creation of marriage “bootcamp” classes aimed at supporting long-term relationships.

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“‘Online’ has become the most common way couples meet in America today,” the report says. “While there are plenty of dating app success stories, studies show that couples who meet online and subsequently marry are six times more likely to get divorced within the first three years of marriage than are those who meet through in-person methods. Beyond higher divorce rates, couples who meet online are also less likely to get married in the first place.”

The report also calls for a minimum age of 16 for social media platforms and certain A.I. chatbots, arguing that digital culture has contributed to declining family formation.

Socialist dictator Maduro gone, but Venezuelans remain wary after years of oppression

Following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3 after he and his wife were whisked away to face justice in New York, ordinary citizens of Venezuela are responding with a mix of relief, shock and uncertainty after 30 years of a brutal socialist dictatorship that bankrupted their nation.

While what happens next remains largely uncertain and multiple possibilities continue to be studied by Washington, the celebratory tones seen across the country and throughout the almost 9 million citizens in the diaspora on Saturday have largely subsided into muted and cautious joy only expressed in private circles among those who longed for an end to years of economic hardship and political repression.

Vera, a professor at one of the better-known universities, told Fox News Digital, “The world cannot fathom the joy we feel. Maduro is in a federal prison in the U.S. with living conditions and rights that our political prisoners never had. For me, it is comforting to know he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars eating rice and sausage and taking showers only three times a week, paying for damaging the lives of millions of Venezuelans.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THERE WON’T BE A ‘SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKS’ AGAINST VENEZUELA DUE TO THEIR ‘COOPERATION’

Yet fear remains. The government has decreed any celebration of current events — and even expressions of approval of the U.S. operation in written text messages — to be a crime equivalent to national treason. Worse yet: it has empowered any law officer to check citizens and their telephones at random at hundreds of checkpoints established throughout Caracas and other regions of the country.

Anyone found in violation of the decree can be immediately arrested without a trial, turning the promise of change into an anxiety-tempered state about what comes next and raising questions about sovereignty, daily survival and how to overcome yet another crisis.

For Jesús, a 23-year-old university student from a middle-class family in Caracas who also works for a local business, a single word defines this past week: stress. For safety reasons, he and other Venezuelans interviewed for this story requested either partial or complete anonymity due to the security situation.

“We cannot afford the luxury of staying home and waiting to see how things will unfold. I have my own private vehicle and drive extensively throughout Caracas to go and come back from work, school, and run errands,” he said.

AFTER MADURO, VENEZUELA POWER VACUUM EXPOSES BRUTAL INSIDERS AND ENFORCERS

“There are police cars and officers from the national, municipal and local authorities stationed in every corner. Hundreds of checkpoints have sprung up across Caracas since the decree forbidding any celebratory expression at the U.S. operation that captured Maduro. At the first few days, there were also pro-government publicly armed colectivos(state-sanctioned citizen collectivities) doing the rounds to capture and violently repress anyone so much as expressing relief that Maduro was gone. It’s been extremely difficult having to remain vigilant at all times. From prior experiences, I learned to avoid most checkpoints through alternate ways and avoiding main roads. People have been sending texts saying where the checkpoints are and telling us to delete anything that shows our support for U.S. actions from our phones.”

He continued, “For me, personally, it’s a time of mixed feelings. I am relieved to see Maduro gone and finally see a promise or discourse by either local or foreign governments to come to pass in Venezuela. While I obviously understand this only happened because of foreign interference, I much prefer a U.S. action that ends this dictatorship than preserving Venezuela’s sovereignty at the cost of our country. On the other hand, I am also frightened, because once you start dismantling the established structures, you end up having chaos, and in such a case, the population suffers the most.”

Jesús adds that he transits through three main large groups of people — his student friends, his family and older relatives and his job. He adds that among his friends the mood is largely of hope that the U.S. might reshape the Venezuelan market and develop it into what he calls a “developed” system, where people can actually lead a better life. “We’ll finally stop being a Cuban colony and either be truly independent or a U.S.-.led country like the Dominican Republic. Nothing wrong with that. We’ll still be better off and more stable,” he added.

TRUMP BACKS MADURO LOYALIST OVER VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER IN POST-CAPTURE TRANSITION

Among his relatives, the overarching tone is fear. So far, many of Maduro’s cronies remain in power, and they don’t know how they might suddenly react under paranoia, people with private property, and especially a potential mandatory military draft.

“Finally, at work, there is apathy. I work in a rich neighborhood where lots of government officers and military people frequent. Obviously, police officers and other government officials who benefited from the corruption and criminality are against what happened, but most military personnel say they won’t die for something they didn’t sign up for because of a dictatorship. At my work, we’ve seen so many broken promises, that we are only bracing to stay afloat,” he concluded.

For Hannah, a recent graduate, there’s relief that Maduro is gone. “Obviously, things shouldn’t be like this, and Venezuelans should be the ones deciding the future of their own country, but Maduro had to leave one way or another, and now he is gone,” she adds.

A business entrepreneur who asked to speak anonymously said there was very little inclination for Venezuelans in his position to speak to the press due to smear campaigns by the government and possible reprisals.

Based in Caracas, he said that stocks have been experiencing record highs in both trade and value since Saturday, with some of them reaching close to a 20% uptick since then.

“In the more pragmatic business elite in Venezuela, there is a lot of hope that a more normal business environment will be created now that Maduro is gone and if the U.S. plays the regime-change and economy-development cards right, even if it is to favor themselves foremost. But even then, this would be a better environment for private businesses and an enormous market ripe for renovated activity. In that sense, most people are hopeful that Maduro is finally gone, but obviously it’s hard to see your own country being attacked by a foreign power,” he says.

Vera, the professor, says she has been out and about in Caracas since Jan. 4, and has not encountered any of the She describes an overall sensation of relief a joy at seeing Maduro gone despite the many uncertainties.

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“There is generalized uncertainty, but the collective sensation is relief. For the first time in 26 years of oppression, there is political change. I do have my personal reservations regarding Trump and the U.S., as there is evidently an economic interest on their part. We have one of the largest extra-heavy oil reserves in the world, on top of our reserves of gas, gold and coltan.”

She continued, “The U.S. actions are not free, and we still need to see what the actual costs — which could be very high — will be. I am very sorry that this happened in my country and would be lying if I said I agreed with foreign incursions, but I am also of the opinion that our own Armed Forces should have listened to the majority of the citizens in the 2024 elections [when Maduro retained power despite losing the vote], but they chose to continue oppressing their own people. This is, therefore, part of the cost we should pay for their inoperancy,” she said.

Vera cautions that reactivating Venezuela’s economic growth will be a medium- to-long-term task, but that when the feeling of political change is real, everything flows better, and the feeling of opportunity in the country is real right now.

Supreme Court tariff ruling has Trump administration, US businesses bracing for impact

The Supreme Court could rule as early as Friday on President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency law to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners, a closely watched case with major implications for businesses and the president himself.

At issue is the president’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose two sweeping sets of tariffs, including the 10% global tariffs and the higher, so-called “reciprocal” tariffs in early April. 

Lower courts had ruled that Trump exceeded his authority in using IEEPA as a means of quickly enacting those import fees, prompting the Supreme Court to take up the case on an expedited basis last year. A decision is expected by June at the latest.

US COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE SIDES WITH TRUMP IN TARIFF CASE

But justices on the high court, including Trump’s own appointees, appeared skeptical of the administration’s claim during oral arguments that the IEEPA gives a sitting president the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, leaving open the question of what might happen if the high court rules against the president. 

Trump, for his part, has described the matter as “life and death,” and senior administration officials have warned for months of dire economic consequences if the high court were to undo the tariffs enacted by Trump, which have remained in place as the courts considered the case on its merits. 

But the short answer, experts told Fox News Digital, is that not much would change immediately, and it would almost certainly involve more litigation. 

In the months since the high court reviewed the consolidated case,Learning Resources, Inc, and V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, hundreds of businesses have filed new cases against the Trump administration over IEEPA, aimed at clawing back the higher import duties they’ve shouldered since his tariffs took force. 

The U.S. collected more than $133 billion in IEEPA tariff duties as of mid-December, according to data published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency last month.

And, assuming the Supreme Court does not specifically outline a remedy portion of its ruling for the executive branch to follow, the cases will be punted back to the lower courts to chart a path forward, lawyers for the new plaintiffs said. 

“There’s a group of us working with the Department of Justice on getting a case management plan implemented,” Erik Smithweiss, a trade lawyer representing some of the companies that have filed the new tariff lawsuits, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH TRUMP TARIFF POWERS IN BLOCKBUSTER CASE

“In the event the tariffs are found to be unlawful, the Court of International Trade (CIT) is going to manage these thousands of lawsuits and many more that may be coming.” 

Trump, for his part, has railed against that outcome, which he described in a Truth Social post as a “National Security catastrophe.”

Lawyers for the Trump administration argued in court that the IEEPA law in question allows a president to act in response to “unusual and extraordinary threats” and in cases where a national emergency has been declared. Trump has claimed that deep and “sustained” trade deficits amount to a national emergency, allowing him, in the lawyers’ view, to invoke IEEPA.

Plaintiffs counter that, in the 50 years since its passage, the law has never been used by a president to impose tariffs. They argue that permitting Trump to use the law to enact tariffs would drastically expand his powers at the expense of other branches of government. 

Others were more cautious about the possible impact.

TRUMP WARNS SUPREME COURT TARIFF SHOWDOWN IS ‘LIFE OR DEATH’ FOR AMERICA

“It’s a fascinating situation because it’s super important. But, in the short run, economically, this doesn’t matter a huge deal,” Philip Luck, the director of the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“It matters in the sense that, yes, if this comes down, some goods will become cheaper,” Luck said when asked what would happen if the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s use of IEEPA to impose his tariffs. “Some exporters will be able to export to the United States more cheaply.”

On its own, though, the ruling is unlikely to stop the Trump administration from imposing the tariffs via other mechanisms at its disposal, including Section 232, by which the administration can enact industry-wide tariffs for a set period of time, or under Section 301, which allows the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to enact tariffs at a president’s direction in response to countries that are determined to have “discriminatory” trade practices towards U.S. businesses.  

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“More broadly, so long as this administration is intent on raising barriers to a broad set of important goods, they will be able to do that again,” Luck said. 

“A few sectoral tariffs onto very broad sectors and a few country-level tariffs — if you levy tariffs on our large trading partners — cover some 90% of our trade.”

Trump’s tariff boom hits record highs as Supreme Court showdown looms

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling Friday in a case that could reshape President Donald Trump’s trade agenda.

At issue is the scope of presidential authority to impose tariffs under longstanding trade laws.

The cases stem from lawsuits filed by an educational toy manufacturer and a family-owned wine and spirits importer, with the court weighing whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorized the tariffs or whether the move exceeded constitutional limits.

SUPREME COURT EXPECTED TO RULE FRIDAY ON TRUMP’S POWER TO IMPOSE TARIFFS

The Trump administration has invoked the IEEPA to impose five separate tariff measures — including reciprocal tariffs, fentanyl-related tariffs, tariffs tied to Russian oil imports currently levied on Indian goods, Brazil-related tariffs, and trade agreements negotiated with foreign countries under the law — a sweeping use of emergency powers now under scrutiny by the court.

TRUMP SAYS US WOULD BE ‘DESTROYED’ WITHOUT TARIFF REVENUE

One of the most consequential of those measures came in April, when Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs, a broad set of import taxes he said were designed to correct long-standing trade imbalances and reduce the U.S. reliance on foreign goods.

The effect was immediate: duty collections jumped from $9.6 billion in March to $23.9 billion in May. Total duty revenue reached $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Treasury Department’s “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” report.

That momentum has carried into the new fiscal year, with more than $98 billion pouring into federal coffers since Oct. 1, Treasury data shows.

The tariff windfall has emerged as a central pillar of Trump’s economic agenda, with the president arguing that tariffs can serve as a major source of government revenue to support domestic priorities.

On Nov. 9, Trump proposed using revenue from trade duties to provide a $2,000 dividend to low- and middle-income Americans by mid-2026. 

TRUMP SAYS TARIFF-FUNDED DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS WILL BEGIN NEXT YEAR

Tariffs are taxes levied on imported goods. Although they are paid by companies at the border, the costs are often passed along through higher prices, leaving consumers to bear much of the burden.

He also said that any leftover funds could be used to pay down the nation’s debt, which stands just north of $38 trillion.

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During oral arguments in November, both conservative and liberal justices expressed doubts about the legality of the Trump administration’s tariffs.

A ruling expected this week will decide whether the tariffs and the revenue they generate can remain in place.

The Trump administration has said it could turn to alternative legal authorities to preserve the tariffs if the court rules against it.

‘Irregular’ armed guards aboard Russian shadow tankers alarm Nordic-Baltic governments

The seizure of a Russian-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic has highlighted “worry” among NATO and Nordic-Baltic governments over dark fleet vessels and the type of crews onboard, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.

U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel boarded the Marinera between Iceland and the U.K. Wednesday as it operated under deceptive shipping practices, including flying a false flag and violating sanctions.

According to Reuters, Russian authorities demanded the humane treatment and repatriation of the crew members.

Windward maritime intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann claimed the Marinera’s ownership had just been transferred to Burevestmarin LLC, a Russian company.

TREASURY TARGETS OIL TRADERS, TANKERS ACCUSED OF HELPING MADURO EVADE U.S. SANCTIONS

“We do not know the status of these sailors and seafarers, who are Russian nationals,” Wiese Bockmann told Fox News Digital. “That lack of clarity is common with dark fleet tankers.

“The Marinera did have its ownership transferred to a newly formed Russian company, with the registered owner, ship manager and commercial manager being Burevestmarin LLC.”

She also suggested NATO and the Nordic-Baltic 8+ group of governments have been “worried” about sanctioned oil tankers with unauthorized personnel onboard, including “armed guards.”

WORLD’S BIGGEST OIL RESERVE HOLDER FACES US CHOKEHOLD AS TRUMP TARGETS VENEZUELA’S SHADOW TANKER FLEET

“Increasingly, and I know the Nordic Baltic 8+ governments are worried about the fact that you are having unauthorized people also on board, also known as armed guards,” Wiese Bockmann said. “But it is highly irregular.

“Armed guards are rarely seen and typically used on ships that are transiting the Gulf of Aden or the Red Sea and are therefore assessed as at risk from attack by Houthis or pirates,” she added.

After the seizure, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Russian demands for special treatment of the Marinera’s crew during her regular briefing Wednesday.

“This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that had transported sanctioned oil,” Leavitt said.

“The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order. And that’s why the crew will be subject to prosecution.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was “closely following” the situation, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

US COAST GUARD PURSUES THIRD ‘DARK FLEET’ OIL TANKER AS TRUMP TARGETS VENEZUELAN SANCTIONS EVASION NETWORK

Wiese Bockmann noted that dark fleet crews are often multinational, typically involving a Russian master with Chinese, Indian or Filipino crew members.

“There is a blurring of commercial and military shipping around the dark fleet,” she said. “What we’re seeing now is something that has really only emerged in the last six or seven months.”

European authorities have also begun holding crews accountable, particularly when captains are “facilitating dangerous deceptive shipping practices, such as spoofing and going dark,” she explained.

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“The EU recently sanctioned the captain of a tanker who refused orders from the Estonian navy (Jaguar) to be stopped for inspection last May. And the French charged a captain over his refusal to comply with orders and failure to justify a flag’s nationality after authorities intercepted a dark fleet tanker in the Atlantic last October,” Wiese Bockmann added.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a second vessel, the M. Sophia, was also boarded in international waters near the Caribbean while en route to Venezuela.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Venezuelan oil shipments surge to US ports with heavy crude after Maduro capture

Venezuelan crude oil is being shipped to the U.S. at speed and in bulk following the arrest of former President Nicolás Maduro, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.

As many as “15 very large crude carrier shipments” carrying 50 million barrels will end up en route, said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, which has tracked oil tanker movements around the troubled region for months.

“The moves overnight that were announced to sell about 30 to 50 million barrels of oil,” Wiese Bockmann said at a press conference.

“That’s equivalent to about 15 very large crude carrier shipments,” the analyst added.

TRUMP’S MADURO TAKEDOWN RESETS THE GLOBAL CHESSBOARD AND REASSERTS AMERICAN POWER

The rapid surge in shipments comes days after President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela would move between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S., worth roughly $2.8 billion at current prices.

Trump said Tuesday the oil would be sold at market value and that he would control the proceeds to ensure they are “used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”

Windward maritime intelligence data indicates massive oil flows are already materializing, according to Wiese Bockmann.

“And just for comparison, over December, using our commodities tracking partners, Vortex, about 47 million barrels of crude and containers were shipped from Venezuela,” she noted.

“They’re going to be taken by storage ships to the U.S.,” Wiese Bockmann added.

According to the analyst, U.S. infrastructure is well-prepared to handle the influx.

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“U.S. refineries have been configured for Venezuela’s heavy crude,” she said, adding that “we’re already very quickly seeing some action there.”

Windward tracking data shows increasing tanker activity tied to Western operators, with four Western-linked tankers being tracked sailing for Venezuela, she said, as well as reports of tankers already chartered.

The developments follow dramatic geopolitical events earlier this month, when U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife and transported them to New York City to face criminal drug charges.

Trump later said the U.S. would temporarily run Caracas until a safe transition could occur, warning he was “ready to stage a second and much larger attack” if necessary.

“There are reports of more tankers chartered,” the analyst said.

“Two arrived at Jose Terminal on the fifth and sixth of January, and two have sailed so far for the U.S. on Jan. 2 and Jan. 6.” she claimed. 

US MILITARY SEIZES TWO SANCTIONED TANKERS IN ATLANTIC OCEAN

According to reports, Venezuela is said to hold more than 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, which is more than Saudi Arabia, Iran or Kuwait, but sanctions and isolation have impacted production and exports.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been tasked with executing Trump’s plan “immediately,” as major U.S. energy companies such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil prepare for White House meeting Friday to revive Venezuela’s oil industry.

But Wiese Bockmann said the arrest of Maduro had disrupted the so-called dark fleet trade that had been taking Venezuelan crude to Asia.

“We’ve had this phenomenon of the dark fleet exploding since Russia invaded Ukraine,” she added.

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“And we’ve had this axis of Venezuela, Iran, Russia, China basically trading oil between them.

“If it’s condensate from Iran to Venezuela or if it’s crude back from Venezuela to China, which is about 600,000 barrels a day on average,” she added.

“These days, Asia-bound exports remain poor and are paralyzed, but we have seen a very quick resumption of crude flows to the U.S. after the seizure of Maduro.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.