On Monday, President Trump escalated tensions with Venezuela, which has been the main focus of his administration’s massive deportation campaigns, by threatening to levy a 25% penalty on nations that buy oil or gas from Venezuela.
Countries that do business with Venezuela will be subject to the penalty beginning on April 2. Trump has also accused Venezuela of importing gang members and dangerous criminals into the United States.
“Among the gangs they sent to the United States, is Tren de Aragua, which has been given the designation of ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization,'” Trump said on the social networking platform Truth Social. Returning them to Venezuela is a massive undertaking, but we are hard at work on it.
“More than that, Venezuela has shown a marked antipathy toward the US and the values we hold dear,” he went on to say. Countries who buy oil or gas from Venezuela will have to pay a 25% tariff to the US on all of their trade with the US.
Among 2023’s buyers of Venezuelan crude oil, China ranked first, followed by the United States.
Trump deported hundreds of people to an El Salvadorian jail earlier this month by using the Alien Enemies Act, a seldom utilized wartime authority, on charges that they were part of a Venezuelan gang. Federal judge who tried to stop deportations by verbal and written orders will find out if Trump administration cheated the system.
