WATCH LIVE: White House briefing may address Venezuela operations, Greenland demands

The United States has seized two oil tankers subject to sanctions linked to Venezuela in successive actions in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, officials said Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt is expected to hold a news conference at 11 a.m. EST. Watch the live stream in our video player above.

The US European Command announced the seizure of the merchant ship Bella 1 on charges of “violating US sanctions.” A Coast Guard ship chased the tanker into the waters between Scotland and Iceland after it tried to avoid falling foul of a US blockade on sanctioned oil ships around Venezuela.

Read more: Trump says the United States will get between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela at market price

Subsequently, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed that US forces had also taken control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean. She said in a post on social media that the two ships “were either last docked in Venezuela or on their way there.”

Bella 1 was renamed Russian and renamed Marinera after heading toward Europe. A U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations said the U.S. military turned over control of it to law enforcement officials after it was seized. The United States imposed sanctions on the ship in 2024 for allegedly smuggling goods for a company linked to the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group.

This story is evolving and will be updated.