US commandos from the Department of War stormed a Venezuelan oil tanker in a breathtaking airborne takedown amid ratcheting tensions in the Caribbean.

The breaking news that U.S. commandos stormed and seized a Venezuelan oil tanker is not simply another geopolitical dust-up — it is a visible sign of the times, a reminder that the world’s great powers are now moving pieces on the prophetic chessboard with increasing speed and intensity. The Department of War is open for business.

“In your patience possess ye your souls.” Luke 21 :19 (KJB)

When President Trump announced that U.S. forces had taken control of what he described as a “very large tanker” operating off the Venezuelan coast, the world caught a glimpse of something Washington hasn’t shown in decades: the willingness to use force decisively, swiftly, and without apology. And make no mistake, while the modern bureaucracy insists on calling it the “Department of Defense,” what you saw on full display was the Department of War, doing exactly what it was renamed from in 1949, projecting American power upon the seas. But where does all this lead, and more importantly, where does it all end?

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President Trump orders seizure of Venezuelan oil tanker with stunning attack by US commandos at the Department of War

FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: Footage released by the Trump administration on Wednesday showed American forces swooping on the tanker in helicopters and rappelling down ropes. Troops with guns drawn darted up stairs to the bridge to take control of the vessel off the coast of Venezuela.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a statement on X: ‘Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

‘For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.’

The release of the video comes hours after it was reported on Wednesday that the tanker had been seized, sparking fears of a potential blockade and sending oil prices sky-rocketing. No name was given for the ‘stateless’ vessel, nor was it confirmed precisely where off the coast of Venezuela the raid unfolded.

Trump called it ‘the largest one ever seized’ and warned that ‘other things are happening.’

The capture sent oil prices climbing sharply, with Brent crude rising 1.21 percent to $62.69 a barrel amid fears the escalation could disrupt global supply. Venezuela is one of the largest suppliers of oil to China, which has been the destination of between 55 percent and 90 percent of the country’s oil exports.

A Bloomberg report called the move ‘a serious escalation’ after Trump demanded Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro step down. Caracas did not immediately respond to the seizure.

When asked about what the US will do with the oil seized from the Venezuelan tanker, Trump said, ‘We keep it.’

This week’s seizure marks the first time the Trump administration has moved to interfere with the country’s oil distribution amid the hostile pressure campaign. When a reporter on Wednesday asked Trump about who owns the seized oil tanker, the President responded, ‘You’ll get that information later.’ READ MORE

Dramatic Footage Shows US Forces Seize Tanker Off Venezuela

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

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When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

More than 11 US warships, including the country’s largest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, are bearing down on the Caribbean amid escalating tensions between President Trump and Venezuela.

More than Saudi Arabia, more than Iran, and more than every other nation, Venezuela sits upon the largest known oil reserves that exist anywhere on this Earth. Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of proven crude, but under Maduro’s socialist collapse, those reserves are basically locked away. A military intervention would place that oil under a new “friendly” government — or under direct U.S. strategic influence. Washington has wanted this for decades. Every administration knew it. Trump is going to be the one to take it. Oil is energy, and energy is power. That’s the memo.

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:7 (KJB)

On our Podcast today, our main story was about Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and his fervent denial that he had ordered a ‘second strike’ on the ‘narcoterrorists’ gunboat. He said “As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting.” A few hours after the Podcast wrapped, President Trump issued the announcement that yes, Hegseth had absolutely ordered the second strike that brutally killed the survivors of the first strike. Can you say ‘war crime’? And before anyone can be brought to trial, Trump will have already given the order for the US military to invade Venezuela. Is Trump really so concerned about stopping the drug trade that has been going on for over a century? Nope. He wants the oil, and he’s going to invade them to get it, because that’s what the people who hit his right ear with that warning shot last summer have told him to do.

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11 US warships and 15,000 troops now in Caribbean as Venezuela tensions escalate

FROM THE NEW YORK POST: A Marine Expeditionary Unit capable of an amphibious land invasion has also been deployed as part of efforts to stem the flow of drugs into the US from the socialist country.

“The military’s job is to defend the homeland,” Secretary of the Navy John Phelan told Fox News on Saturday night. “That’s exactly what we’re doing, and we’re using our best assets to defend the homeland. Drugs kill more Americans than we’ve ever lost in wars,” he said. “So I think at the end of the day, the president has correctly identified this as an attack on the country, which it is.” Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, is being blamed for allowing narco vessels to set off from his country for US.

JUST SAY NO. Listen as Congresswoman Maria Salazar tells you that Venezuela sits upon the largest known oil reserves on Planet Earth, and that Trump is going to take it. And oh, almost forgot, let’s stop the drugs, too, said no one ever. WWIII, anyone? pic.twitter.com/hyrl152ZlK

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) December 2, 2025

Among the 11 warships currently in the Caribbean is the USS Ford, which houses the Carrier Strike Group featuring nine carrier air wings, or more than 70 aircraft, including squadrons out of Virginia, Florida and Washington state. Other ships deployed to the region include the USS Iwo Jamia, a Wasp-class amphibious assault vehicle capable of carrying up to six Harrier II attack aircraft.

The USS Gravely and the USS Stockdale, two naval guided-missile destroyers, are currently operating in the Caribbean along with the larger guided-missile cruisers, the USS Lake Erie and the USS Gettysburg.

Up to 2,200 Marines, based out of Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Base New River in North Carolina, are also stationed in the Caribbean. In total, around 15,000 troops, including the Marines on ships and about 5,000 personnel at bases in Puerto Rico, are now in the region, the Conversation reported. Roosevelt Roads naval base in Puerto Rico has been reopened as part of the buildup.

The growing firepower is part of Trump’s Operation Southern Spear, which aims, with support of the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security, to control the flow of deadly narcotics heading north to the US. It coincides with efforts to modernize US armed forces using AI, unmanned systems and hypersonic missiles, as well as a push from Trump to bring shipbuilding jobs back to America. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

• HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Russia could provide its most advanced hypersonic missiles to Venezuela, amid frayed relations with the United States amid ongoing military attacks from Trump

We’ve been telling you for some time now, that Trump’s oddly-timed ‘war on drugs’ in Venezuela is really just cover for ramping up military action against Venezuela in order to conduct regime change with Maduro. Trump has been able to conduct operations with seeming impunity, and now, Putin is going to raise the ante just a tad by supply Venezuela with hypersonic missiles. This ought to be good.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6 (KJB)

For a man who markets himself as the ‘president of peace’, Trump is sure looking to get into a lot of military ‘conflicts’. We have Venezuela, Mexico, Nigeria overseas, and at home, Trump wants troops on the ground in every major city in all 50 states. It’s a good thing we now have a Department of War, looks like we’re really going to need it. That’s the memo.

Russia open to sending hypersonic missiles to Venezuela

FROM THE TELEGRAPH UK: Alexei Zhuravlyov, the deputy chairman of Russia’s parliamentary defence committee, warned that “the Americans may be in for some surprises” as he opened the door to a weapons transfer to Venezuela. The Kremlin claims the Oreshnik missile is impossible to intercept and can carry conventional and nuclear warheads.

“I see no obstacles to supplying a friendly country with new developments such as the Oreshnik or, let’s say, the well-proven Kalibr missiles,” Mr Zhuravlyov told the Russian news website Gazeta.Ru.

The Oreshnik missile, translating as “hazel tree”, is capable of striking any target across the European continent in under an hour if launched from Russia or Belarus, according to Moscow. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has insisted that the missiles are so mighty that using several of them in a strike with conventional warheads would be just as catastrophic as a nuclear attack.

The Oreshnik was first used in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024 in what Putin said was a reprisal to Ukraine’s use of long-range weaponry hailing from the US and UK, including Storm Shadow missiles, to hit targets inside Russia.

It is understood Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, reached out to Putin personally to plead for military assistance amid increased US military presence in the Caribbean.

Mr Maduro asked for Russia to boost air defences, including restoring Russian Sukhoi Su-30MK2 aircraft already in Venezuela’s possession and acquiring 14 sets of missiles, The Washington Post reported last week.

In a letter to the Russian president, Mr Maduro reportedly said that the Sukhoi fighters were “the most important deterrent the Venezuelan national government had when facing the threat of war”. Caracas also reached out to China and Iran to upgrade its military capabilities and expand defensive ties, according to the paper.

The US deployment in the Caribbean Sea has been swelling for months as Washington dispatched fighter jets, warships, bombers, marines, drones and spy planes in a move that the US president claimed was necessary to sever the flow drugs into the US. More than a dozen US strikes on alleged drug traffickers, most of whom departed from Venezuelan shores, have killed more than 60 people since September. READ MORE

Putin Enters Venezuela’s War Officially? 5,000 Russian Missiles To Defend Maduro From Trump’s Plan

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced that his country possesses over 5,000 Russian‑made Igla‑S man‑portable surface‑to‑air missiles, deployed across key air‑defense zones to counter what he described as “imperialist threats” from the United States. Speaking during a televised military ceremony, Maduro claimed the missiles—comparable to U.S. Stinger systems—are positioned “from the last mountain to the last city” to guarantee Venezuela’s sovereignty and peace. The declaration comes as U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies naval and air operations against drug‑trafficking networks in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, actions Caracas has condemned as a prelude to regime‑change. The Russian‑supplied Igla‑S systems can strike drones, helicopters, and low‑flying aircraft within a 6‑kilometer range, making Venezuela’s stockpile one of the largest in Latin America.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

• HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB