The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Wednesday sanctioned four companies operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and identified four oil tankers as blocked property, saying the move targets oil traders involved in alleged sanctions-evasion that helps finance Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

Treasury said the vessels, some described as part of a ‘shadow fleet’ serving Venezuela, ‘continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s illegitimate narco-terrorist regime’ in Tuesday’s press release.

‘President Trump has been clear: We will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs,’ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. ‘The Treasury Department will continue to implement President Trump’s campaign of pressure on Maduro’s regime,’ he added.

Treasury said the sanctions block property and interests in property of the designated entities within U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibits Americans from transactions involving them.

The action follows U.S. measures against Venezuela’s state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

OFAC designated PDVSA in January 2019 under Executive Order 13850, and President Trump later took additional steps to block PDVSA in August 2019 under Executive Order 13884, Treasury said.

Treasury said Wednesday’s move also complements actions announced Dec. 11 and Dec. 19 targeting PDVSA-linked officials, associates and vessels.

OFAC designated Corniola Limited and Krape Myrtle Co LTD and identified the tanker NORD STAR as blocked property. OFAC also designated Winky International Limited and identified ROSALIND, also known as LUNAR TIDE, as blocked property. OFAC designated Aries Global Investment LTD and identified the tankers DELLA and VALIANT as blocked property, Treasury said.

Treasury said blocked property within U.S. jurisdiction must be reported to OFAC, and warned that violations of U.S. sanctions may result in civil or criminal penalties.

Treasury said the goal of sanctions is to bring about a positive change in behavior, noting there is a formal process for seeking removal from an OFAC list consistent with U.S. law.

The number of American citizens arrested and held in Venezuela has risen in recent months, according to a new report.

Several Americans have been detained by Venezuelan security forces as the Trump administration stepped up efforts to isolate President Nicolás Maduro, including sanctions enforcement and an expanded military presence in the Caribbean, The New York Times reported.

A U.S. official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the outlet that while some detainees face what Venezuelan authorities describe as legitimate criminal charges, Washington is considering designating at least two Americans as ‘wrongfully detained.’

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This can speed up diplomatic efforts to secure their release.

Those arrested currently are said to include three Venezuelan-American dual nationals and two U.S. citizens with no known ties to Venezuela, the official told the outlet.

Maduro’s government has long been accused by U.S. officials and critics of using detained foreign nationals as leverage in negotiations with the U.S.

President Trump has made the release of Americans held overseas a priority during both of his presidencies. During his first term, he followed a campaign of maximum pressure against Maduro.

On his return to office in January, Trump also sent envoy Richard Grenell to Caracas to push for a prisoner agreement.

Grenell met Maduro in person and was tasked with securing the return of detained Americans, announcing he was bringing home six who had been imprisoned, per Reuters.

In May, Venezuela also released a U.S. Air Force veteran who had been detained for roughly six months. 

Joseph St Clair, who served in Afghanistan, had traveled to South America for treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

In July, as reported by Fox News Digital, 10 more Americans and U.S. permanent residents were released after a prisoner swap that saw more than 250 Venezuelans held in El Salvador also returned home. The U.S. State Department confirmed that release on July 18, 2025.

‘Our commitment to the American people is clear: we will safeguard the well-being of U.S. nationals both at home and abroad and not rest until all Americans being held hostage or unjustly detained around the world are brought home,’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time.

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That diplomatic push led to talks between U.S. and Venezuelan officials and resulted in the release of at least 16 American citizens and permanent residents by mid-2025.

Those negotiations were later suspended as the administration shifted toward broader pressure.

The U.S. began expanding sanctions enforcement, redeploying naval assets to the Caribbean, and increased operations targeting vessels allegedly linked to drug-trafficking networks tied to Maduro’s regime.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported Wednesday that among those Americans currently reported missing is James Luckey-Lange, 28, of Staten Island, New York, who went missing after crossing Venezuela’s southern border in early December.

Luckey-Lange is the son of musician Diane Luckey, known as Q Lazzarus.

Another former detainee, Renzo Huamanchumo Castillo, a Peruvian-American, told the outlet he was arrested last year and accused of terrorism and plotting to kill Mr. Maduro.

‘We realized afterward, I was just a token,’ he said. He was released in the July prisoner swap after months of harsh detention.

At least two others with U.S. ties remain imprisoned, according to their families: Aidel Suarez, a U.S. permanent resident born in Cuba, and Jonathan Torres Duque, a Venezuelan-American, according to reporting by The New York Times.

The exact number of newly detained Americans has not been publicly disclosed by U.S. officials.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of State for comment.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday outlined a list of its accomplishments during President Donald Trump’s first year back in office, arguing that the agency has ended the political weaponization it says existed under the Biden administration.

The DOJ claimed in a statement posted on X that it has ‘turned around’ the agency, restoring fairness and law enforcement priorities.

‘Instead of keeping Americans safe, the Biden DOJ weaponized its power against political opponents: conservatives, parents, pro-lifers, Christians, and most of all, President Trump,’ the DOJ stated.

The DOJ said that after President Trump inherited a justice system it described as ‘in chaos,’ he charged the department with restoring ‘integrity, accountability and equal justice under the law.’

‘In 2025, the DOJ returned to its core mission: upholding the rule of law, vigorously prosecuting criminals, and keeping the American people safe,’ the department wrote.

The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues to face legal challenges and the Justice Department faces potential legal action after missing a statutory deadlinedeadline to release documents related to Jeffrey Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The DOJ outlined 10 ‘wins’ since President Trump took office on Jan. 20, including efforts to pursue major fraud cases, particularly in Minnesota, which it described as ‘rife with fraud.’

According to the DOJ, 98 people have been charged — including 85 individuals identified as being of Somali descent — in Medicaid fraud and related case programs, leading to 64 convictions to date.

The statement outlines actions taken to roll back policies it said were targeting conservatives and parents, reduce crime nationwide, increase law enforcement activity in major cities, seize record amounts of illegal drugs and secure favorable rulings at the Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that the bureau is working to restore trust in federal law enforcement.

‘Dismantling public corruption is a top priority of our leadership team here — we’ve worked day and night on that mission and will continue to do so until justice is done,’ he wrote.

The Justice Department said more enforcement actions are planned in 2026, signaling an escalation of arrests, court victories and action ‘against those who threaten the safety and well-being of the American people.’

Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas is calling for the complete and permanent abolition of diversity, equity and inclusion ideology, noting that he only wants to be judged based on his ‘character,’ ‘competence’ and ‘results.’

‘DEI should be abolished, permanently. I never want to be chosen, promoted, or rewarded because of how I look. I want to earn every opportunity on merit, through hard work, grit, discipline, and determination,’ the Army veteran declared in a post on X.

‘Equality means equal standards, not engineered outcomes. The dignity of achievement comes from effort, not entitlement. Judge me by my character, my competence, and my results. Anything less is an insult to everyone striving to be their best,’ he added.

Billionaire business tycoon Elon Musk heartily endorsed the lawmaker’s comments.

‘And this is how anyone of honor should be!’ Musk wrote when sharing Hunt’s post on X.

Hunt has previously expressed his disdain for DEI.

‘DEI should be DOA,’ he wrote in a May 2025 post on X. ‘America was built on merit, grit, determination, and hard work—not skin color, quotas, or political games. The promise of this nation is simple: we rise by the strength of our character, not the shade of our skin. I’ve lived by that truth—and it drives the left absolutely insane.’ 

The lawmaker, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023, is running for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who is up for re-election this year. Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton is also aiming to unseat Cornyn in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.

As 2025 ends, tensions between China and Taiwan are higher — and more overt — than at any point in recent years, fueled by expanded U.S. military support for Taipei, increasingly bold warnings from regional allies, and Chinese military drills that look less like symbolism and more like rehearsal.

Beijing has spent the year steadily increasing pressure on Taiwan through large-scale military exercises, air and naval incursions, and pointed political messaging, while Washington and its allies have responded with sharper deterrence signals that China now openly labels as interference.

The result is a more volatile status quo — one where the risk of miscalculation has grown, even as most analysts stop short of predicting an imminent Chinese invasion.

A year of escalating pressure

China capped off 2025 with what it described as its largest Taiwan-focused military exercises to date, launching expansive drills in December that included live-fire elements and simulated island encirclement operations.

The exercises followed a familiar pattern seen throughout the year: People’s Liberation Army aircraft and ships operating closer to Taiwan with greater frequency, reinforcing Beijing’s claim of sovereignty while testing Taipei’s response capacity.

Unlike earlier shows of force, the late-year drills were widely interpreted as practice for coercive scenarios short of outright war — particularly a blockade or quarantine designed to strangle Taiwan economically and politically without triggering immediate global conflict.

Chinese officials explicitly tied the escalation to Washington’s actions, pointing to a massive U.S. arms package approved in December — valued at roughly $11 billion and described as one of the largest such sales to Taiwan in years — as proof of what Beijing calls ‘foreign interference.’

Chinese officials have been unusually blunt in their response.

‘Any external forces that attempt to intervene in the Taiwan issue or interfere in China’s internal affairs will surely smash their heads bloody against the iron walls of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army,’ China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a Monday statement. 

The arms package continued the U.S. push to strengthen Taiwan’s asymmetric defenses, including missiles, drones and systems designed to complicate a Chinese assault rather than match Beijing weapon-for-weapon.

Taipei welcomed the support but remained cautious in its public response, emphasizing restraint while warning that Chinese military pressure has become routine rather than exceptional.

Japan steps into the frame

One of the most consequential shifts in 2025 came not from Washington or Taipei, Taiwan, but from Tokyo.

In November, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made unusually direct remarks linking a potential Taiwan contingency to Japan’s own security, suggesting that an attack on Taiwan could trigger collective self-defense considerations under Japanese law.

The comments marked one of the clearest acknowledgments yet from a sitting Japanese leader that a Taiwan conflict would not remain a bilateral issue between Beijing and Taipei.

China reacted angrily, accusing Japan of abandoning its post-war restraint and aligning itself with U.S. efforts to contain Beijing. The rhetoric underscored a growing Chinese concern: that any move on Taiwan would draw in a widening coalition of U.S. allies.

That concern has also been reinforced by U.S. treaty commitments to the Philippines, where Chinese and Philippine vessels clashed repeatedly in the South China Sea throughout the year, raising fears of a multifront crisis.

Washington’s deterrence gamble

For the United States, 2025 was defined by a balancing act — reinforcing Taiwan without triggering the very conflict Washington seeks to prevent.

In addition to the December arms package, U.S. officials repeatedly reaffirmed that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are vital U.S. interests, while avoiding any explicit shift away from long-standing strategic ambiguity.

The Pentagon’s annual report on China, released late in 2025, reiterated that U.S. defense assessments see the Chinese military developing capabilities that could enable it to fight and win a war over Taiwan by 2027 — a benchmark that has increasingly shaped U.S. and allied planning.

U.S. officials, however, have also cautioned that military readiness does not equal intent, warning against treating exercises or procurement timelines as a countdown clock to war.

Is an invasion coming?

The question hanging over the region — and Washington — is whether China is moving closer to launching a full-scale invasion of Taiwan.

The evidence cuts both ways.

On one hand, the scale and sophistication of Chinese military activity around Taiwan has grown noticeably, with drills emphasizing joint operations, rapid mobilization and isolation of the island. Beijing’s rhetoric has also hardened, portraying reunification as increasingly urgent and framing U.S. involvement as an existential threat.

On the other hand, an amphibious invasion of Taiwan would be among the most complex military operations in modern history, carrying enormous political, economic and military risks for China — whose armed forces have not fought a major war since its 1979 invasion of Vietnam.

Many defense analysts argue that Beijing has strong incentives to continue applying pressure through gray-zone tactics — cyber operations, economic coercion, legal warfare and military intimidation — rather than crossing the threshold into open war.

The December drills reinforced that view, highlighting blockade-style scenarios that could test Taiwan and its partners without immediately triggering a shooting war.

The road ahead

As 2026 approaches, the Taiwan Strait remains a flashpoint where deterrence and coercion are colliding more frequently and more visibly.

The most widely held assessment among U.S. and regional officials is that while the risk of conflict is rising — particularly as China approaches its 2027 military readiness goals — an invasion is not yet the most likely near-term outcome.

Instead, the danger lies in sustained pressure, miscalculation and crisis escalation, especially as more actors — from Japan to the Philippines — become directly implicated in the Taiwan equation.

For now, 2025 ends with no shots fired across the Taiwan Strait — but with fewer illusions about how close the region may be to its most serious test in decades.