Tracy Mumford

Over the course of the two-hour interview, Trump touted his plans for long-term U.S.

involvement in Venezuela.

The president's comments built on what Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out yesterday.

He detailed what he called a three-phase mission for the U.S.

in Venezuela.

That includes selling the country's oil and eventually installing a new government there.

Rubio talked up the U.S.

's blockade, where American troops off the coast of Venezuela have been trying to cut off any oil tankers coming or going.

Just yesterday, U.S.

forces dropped from a helicopter to take over one ship near the Caribbean.

And in the North Atlantic, way up between Iceland and Scotland, multiple U.S.

military planes swooped in on another tanker, helping intercept the ship after it had been on the run for days.

Seizing that tanker showed not only how far the Trump administration is willing to go to enforce the Venezuelan blockade, but it was also a provocative move against Russia.

While the ship was fleeing the Coast Guard, the crew had painted a slapdash Russian flag on the hull to try and deter the U.S.

from approaching it.

Russian officials then asked the U.S.

to stop its pursuit and even sent a Navy vessel to escort the ship, though it wasn't there when American forces moved in.

In the past few days, several other ships from what's known as the Shadow Fleet of Tankers, which transport oil in defiance of global sanctions, have taken on the Russian flag after operating in Venezuelan waters, potentially setting the stage for future standoffs between the U.S.

and Russia.

Yesterday, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.