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Year: 2026

State Department declares ‘international bureaucracies’ will no longer get ‘blank checks’ from the US

State Department declares ‘international bureaucracies’ will no longer get ‘blank checks’ from the US

The State Department declared Saturday that the U.S. is “rejecting the outdated model of multilateralism,” saying the system turned American taxpayers into “the world’s underwriter for a sprawling architecture of global governance.”  Additionally, it said President Donald Trump’s recent order withdrawing the U.S. from 66 international organizations showed that “the era of writing blank checks to international bureaucracies is over.” The move marks the latest in Trump’s broader “America First” agenda aimed at cutting spending the administration deems wasteful, ineffective or contrary to U.S. interests. “What we term the ‘international system’ is now overrun with hundreds of opaque international organizations, many with overlapping mandates, duplicative actions, ineffective outputs, and poor financial and ethical governance,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a memo posted on the State Department’s Substack. TRUMP ORDERS US WITHDRAWAL FROM 66 ‘WASTEFUL’ GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS IN SWEEPING ‘AMERICA FIRST’ CRACKDOWN “Even those that once performed useful functions have increasingly become inefficient bureaucracies, platforms for politicized activism or instruments contrary to our nation’s best interests. Not only do these institutions not deliver results, they obstruct action by those who wish to address these problems,” Rubio added. Rubio did not hold back in his criticism of the organizations, saying that the U.S.’s continued participation “would be an abandonment of our national duty.” Additionally, the secretary emphasized that this did not mean that the U.S. was retreating from global leadership, rather it was rejecting what the administration sees as an outdated model of multilateralism. On Wednesday, Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests. The memo came just under a year after a Feb. 4, 2025, order that directed Rubio, along with the U.S. representative to the United Nations, to conduct a review of “all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States,” according to the White House. The findings were presented to the president, who deliberated with his Cabinet before moving forward with the withdrawals. In the January 2026 memorandum, Trump said Rubio’s findings showed it was “contrary to the interests of the U.S. to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support” to the listed groups.  The U.N.-affiliated organizations include the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the U.N. Democracy Fund, among others. The non-U.N. groups included the International Solar Alliance and the Global Forum on Migration and Development as well as others. Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

Four tankers that left Venezuela in ‘dark mode’ return as US eyes the country’s oil

Four tankers that left Venezuela in ‘dark mode’ return as US eyes the country’s oil

Four tankers that left Venezuela in early January with their transponders off, also known as “dark mode,” have reportedly returned to the country’s waters. The news comes after several U.S. tanker seizures and amid the Trump administration’s push to acquire Venezuelan oil after the arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro. Most of the four tankers were loaded, according to Reuters, which noted that Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), a state-owned company, and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com had reported the vessels’ return. A flotilla of approximately one dozen loaded vessels and at least three empty ships left Venezuelan waters last month despite a U.S. blockade that has been imposed since mid-December, according to Reuters. PRESIDENT TRUMP REDRAWS THE GLOBAL OIL MAP One of the vessels, the supertanker M Sophia, which had the Panamanian flag, was intercepted by the U.S. earlier this week, as was the Olina, which had the flag of São Tomé and Príncipe, according to Reuters. The outlet reported that the Olina was released to Venezuela on Friday, citing PDVSA. The Olina had been seized by U.S. forces in a predawn mission Friday. The U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear worked on the mission in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. “Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale,” the U.S. Southern Command wrote in a post on X. “The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.” The Olina, previously named the Minerva M, was sanctioned by the United States for its role in transporting Russian oil, according to The Wall Street Journal. FROM SANCTIONS TO SEIZURE: WHAT MADURO’S CAPTURE MEANS FOR VENEZUELA’S ECONOMY Three other vessels that departed Venezuela in the flotilla, the Panama-flagged Merope, Cook Islands-flagged Min Hang and Panama-flagged Thalia III, were spotted late Friday in Venezuelan waters by TankerTrackers.com, Reuters reported. On Friday, Trump hosted nearly two dozen oil executives at the White House to discuss investment in Venezuela after the U.S. military’s successful capture of Maduro. The executives represented several major companies, including Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Continental, Halliburton, HKN, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, Aspect Holdings, Tallgrass, Raisa Energy and Hilcorp. “You have total safety, total security. One of the reasons you couldn’t go in is you had no guarantees, you had no security, but now you have total security,” Trump said during the meeting.  “It’s a whole different Venezuela, and Venezuela is going to be very successful. And the people of the United States are going to be big beneficiaries because we’re going to be extracting, you know, numbers of in terms of oil, like, you know, few people have ever seen actually. So, you’re dealing with us directly. You’re not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela.” The president also predicted that the acquisition of Venezuelan oil would lead to massive wealth, lower taxes and “lots of jobs for Americans and for Venezuelans.” Days before the meeting with oil executives, Trump said that Venezuela would be turning over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “high-quality,” sanctioned oil to the U.S.  He made the announcement on Truth Social and said that the oil would be sold at market price and that he would “control the proceeds to ensure it is “used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

Trump signs order to protect Venezuela oil revenue held in US accounts

Trump signs order to protect Venezuela oil revenue held in US accounts

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order blocking U.S. courts from seizing Venezuelan oil revenues held in American Treasury accounts. The order, “Safeguarding Venezuelan Oil Revenue for the Good of the American and Venezuelan People,” states that any attempt through the courts to seize the funds would pose an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy. It also states that the funds remain the sovereign property of Venezuela and are not assets available to private creditors or judgment holders. BEHIND THE SCENES OF WHO IS ATTENDING TRUMP’S OIL EXECUTIVE MEETING AFTER MADURO OPERATION The order says the United States will hold the funds “solely in a custodial and governmental capacity,” not as a commercial participant. It was issued to prevent private creditors from using U.S. courts to seize the funds before the administration determines how they will be used. The funds are held in U.S. Treasury accounts on behalf of Venezuela’s government and its state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., and are derived from oil sales and related transactions. ‘WE BUILT VENEZUELA’S OIL INDUSTRY:’ TRUMP VOWS US ENERGY RETURN AFTER MADURO’S CAPTURE Trump signed the order Friday, the same day he met with nearly two dozen top oil and gas executives at the White House.  The president said American energy companies will invest $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s “rotting” oil infrastructure and push production to record levels after the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. has moved aggressively to take control of Venezuela’s oil future after the collapse of the Maduro regime. Trump has framed the effort as part of a broader push to reshape Venezuela’s oil industry, with U.S. companies expected to play a central role.