Full stop ... System Reboot ... now

The picture says it all and again ... it's all about the oil.

Revelations from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in a series of remarkably unguarded interviews with Vanity Fair caused quite a stir today. Among the key tidbits were Wiles directly contradicting the official administration line when she said that Trump’s real goal in striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean is indeed regime change in Venezuela, not the so-called “war on drugs”. 

Update.

The blockade on oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela is the latest development in Donald Trump’s monthslong campaign against Nicolás Maduro.

Last Wednesday, the US seized the Skipper oil tanker that was traveling across the Caribbean carrying Venezuelan crude. The tanker was thought to be loaded with about 2m barrels of Venezuela’s heavy crude, according to the New York Times. The Venezuelan government accused the US of “blatant theft” and described the seizure as “an act of international piracy”, further heightening tensions between the two countries.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it had carried out strikes on three boats it accused of trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean, killing eight people. Since 2 September, at least 95 people have been killed in more than 20 separate strikes, most off the coast of Venezuela.

Several lawmakers have called on the administration to release video footage showing a 2 September attack, but defense secretary Pete Hegseth has refused to do so, calling the video “top secret” and claiming that releasing the video to the public violates “longstanding Department of War policy.”

Experts have also debated whether the air campaign is legal.

Vanity Fair - Photographer Christopher Anderson.

The crew Wiles put together sans Pentagon Pete and some significant others.

Can we say Viet Nam???

This combination of pictures shows US President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro [File: by Jim Watson and Federico Parra/AFP]

Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

“For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump said.

“Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” he said.

Amendment 25 now.