Axios reports:

President Trump designated Venezuela a “foreign terrorist organization” Tuesday and formally ordered a blockade of all U.S. sanctioned oil tankers servicing the country.

Why it matters: Trump’s newest escalation, backed by a giant U.S. armada, exerts unprecedented pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s regime, threatening to bankrupt the country’s already struggling economy.

• “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Zoom in: About 18 tankers under U.S. sanctions that are fully loaded with oil currently lie within Venezuelan waters and eight are classified as “Very Large Cargo Container” ships like the tanker, called the Skipper, that the U.S. seized last week.

• Axios first reported Tuesday morning that the U.S. is monitoring those vessels and plans to seize them as soon as they move into international waters.
• The Trump administration plans to start sanctioning more vessels by placing them on the U.S. government “Specially Designated Nationals” list, which the administration began doing last week as well.
• About 712 vessels worldwide are on the SDN list, according to Samir Madani, co-founder of the firm Tanker Trackers that monitors global shipping. Nearly 40 are currently in Venezuelan waters, he said, including the 18 that are loaded with Venezuelan oil.

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