Uninformed by Leftist Propaganda, Why Some Claim Trump is ‘Pirating Ships’ are Wrong

Far too many people, particularly those who get their news from mainstream sources, are reacting emotionally to the idea of oil tankers being seized.

Most of the outrage comes from not understanding what is actually being discussed.

This is not war or piracy.
This is judgment enforcement. It is the same principle used every day. Courts seize bank accounts, property, aircraft, or cargo from someone who lost in court and refuses to pay.

What Venezuela Did

In the 2000s, under Hugo Chávez, Venezuela seized oil projects owned by foreign companies, including major U.S. firms such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.

This wasn’t a policy disagreement. It was expropriation:

• Contracts were broken
• Assets were taken
• Compensation that had been agreed to was not paid

That is not controversial. It is historical fact.

What Courts Decided

Those U.S. companies didn’t complain on social media. They went to international arbitration and U.S. courts — the proper legal venues.
They won.

The rulings were:
• Final
• Binding
• Enforceable

Venezuela lost and was ordered to pay tens of billions of dollars in damages.

Venezuela Refused to Pay

The key point most critics ignore is that
Venezuela refused to comply with the court judgments.

In any legal system, domestic or international, when a party loses in court and owes a judgment, they might refuse to pay. In such cases, creditors are allowed by law to seize commercial assets.

These assets belong to the debtor and are located outside its borders. This satisfies the judgment.
This is called judgment enforcement.
Countries do not get a free pass simply because they are countries.

Venezuela’s Primary Commercial Asset is Oil

State owned oil moves on owned oil tankers that are commercial property, not military or diplomatic assets.

They can be lawfully seized by court order in cooperating jurisdictions.

This is no difference in principle from seizing a bank account, plane or a shipment of goods.

Calling this “piracy” is legally incorrect. Piracy is theft without lawful authority. This is court-ordered seizure to collect a debt already ruled on.

The estimated unpaid court judgments are about $35 billion. A typical large oil tanker (VLCC) carries ~2 million barrels. The gross value of one full tanker is ~$124 million. The net value after realistic court sale discounts is ~$115 million.

$35,000,000,000 ÷ $115,000,000 ≈ 300 tankers.

Tankers are NOT being randomly grabbed. This is a military action because the goal is punishment. Courts already ruled and the debt legally exists.

Enforcement is the only option left when payment is refused.

When Donald Trump talks about seizing oil shipments, he is not inventing a new power.
He is talking about using existing legal authority to enforce judgments Venezuela already lost.

When politicians, leftist radicals and mainstream media talking heads argue “this sounds extreme,” they miss the most important fact. The court already decided.