President Donald Trump is in favor of a Senate bill to impose new sanctions on Russia, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday.

Graham made the statement after meeting with Trump, saying the Senate could vote on the legislation ‘hopefully as early as next week.’ A bipartisan group of senators has been drafting the suite of sanctions and negotiating to secure White House support for months.

‘After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator [Richard] Blumenthal and many others,’ Graham said Wednesday.

‘Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent,’ he added.

The bill seeks to dry up funding for Russia’s war machine, both by targeting Russian industries as well as other countries that purchase Russian oil, such as China and India.

Agreement on the bill came just as U.S. forces on Wednesday seized two sanctioned tankers in the Atlantic Ocean. The first was the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker in the North Atlantic Sea, while the second was the M/T Sophia, in the Caribbean.

The North Atlantic Sea seizure comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Russia had sent a submarine and other naval assets to escort the tanker.

The vessel had spent more than two weeks attempting to slip past U.S. enforcement efforts targeting sanctioned oil shipments near Venezuela, the outlet reported.

‘The blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world,’ said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the tanker was seized.

Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going in and out of Venezuela in mid-December.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces say the M/T Sophia was conducting ‘illicit activities’ in the Caribbean and is being escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard to the United States for ‘final disposition.’

‘Through Operation Southern Spear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere. We will defend our Homeland and restore security and strength across the Americas,’ said SOUTHCOM.

U.S. Navy SEALs flown by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (‘Night Stalkers’) seized the sanctioned Marinera tanker, previously named Bella 1, between Iceland and Britain, officials told Fox News.

Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump predicted that U.S. involvement with Venezuela could be a years-long venture, rather than a short-term one.

In the early hours of Saturday, U.S. forces arrested dictator Nicolás Maduro in a daring overnight operation. Trump announced the move in a Truth Social post, saying that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been ‘captured and flown out of the country’ after the U.S. ‘carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela.’

Following the operation in Venezuela, Trump said the U.S. would ‘run’ the South American nation, without going into details about what that would entail.

‘We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,’ Trump said.

The president told The New York Times on Wednesday that he anticipated the U.S. would be running Venezuela and extracting oil from its reserves for years following the historic operation that ended with the arrest of Maduro. The deposition of Maduro sparked conversations about control over Venezuela’s oil. Venezuela holds more than 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, nearly quadruple those of the U.S.

Trump announced on Tuesday that Venezuela would be turning over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of ‘high-quality,’ sanctioned oil to the U.S. He said the oil will be sold at market price, and he will control the proceeds to ensure it is ‘used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!’ The president also added that the oil would be transported directly to unloading docks in the U.S. via storage ships.

When asked by the Times about how long the U.S. would retain political oversight of Venezuela, Trump said it would be ‘much longer’ than six months or even a year, though he did not give a specific timeline. Additionally, Trump told the Times that the interim Venezuelan government — which is full of Maduro loyalists — was ‘giving us everything that we feel is necessary.’

When speaking with the Times, the president did not explain why the U.S. recognized Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela’s new leader instead of backing opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado. The Times reported that Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rodríguez speak ‘all the time.’

‘I will tell you that we are in constant communication with her and the administration,’ Trump told the Times.

Notably, Trump did not give a timeline for when Venezuela would hold elections. 

The Times pointed out that from the late 1950s until Hugo Chavez took power in 1999, Venezuela had a history of democratic elections. After Chavez died in 2013, Maduro took his place and eventually won the subsequent election. He ruled Venezuela until he was deposed on Jan. 3, 2026.

A cohort of Senate Republicans wants to ensure that both illegal immigrants and naturalized U.S. citizens who are convicted of fraud are booted from the country.

The lawmakers, led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., are pushing new legislation that would modify an existing, decades-old law that underpins immigration policy in the country to either deport or revoke the citizenship of convicted fraudsters.

Their bill, the Fraud Accountability Act, comes on the heels of the ever unfolding Minnesota fraud scandal, where federal prosecutors estimate that up to $9 billion in taxpayer money was stolen through a network of fraudulent fronts posing as daycare centers, food programs and health clinics, among others.

‘Anyone who comes to the United States and steals from American taxpayers by committing fraud should be deported,’ Blackburn said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘The fraud schemes we have seen in Minnesota and across the country are a betrayal of hardworking American taxpayers, and individuals like the Somali scammers in Minnesota should be subject to both deportation and denaturalization for these crimes,’ she continued. ‘The Fraud Accountability Act would hold these criminals accountable for robbing American taxpayers.’

The situation in Minnesota has become a hot topic on Capitol Hill since lawmakers returned for the new year and the start of a new legislative session this week. In its wake, it torched the political career of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who lawmakers say oversaw the alleged multibillion-dollar scandal.

The legislation would modify the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a law enacted in the 1950s that governs the country’s immigration policies, including visas, green cards, and citizenship, among several other enforcement matters.

Tweaks to the INA would include making any fraud conviction a deportable offense for noncitizens, mandatory detention of noncitizens convicted of fraud while deportation proceedings are ongoing, and would require automatic denaturalization of naturalized U.S. citizens convicted of fraud.

Notably, the legislation would allow for deportation for fraud convictions at any dollar amount; current law dictates that removal only kicks in if the amount hits $10,000 or higher. It would also effectively allow any court to handle denaturalization proceedings.

There is also a retroactivity clause, which stretches the denaturalization process for fraud committed on or after Sept. 30, 1996.

Blackburn is joined by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in the Senate, while a House version of the bill will be introduced by Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga.

Cornyn introduced a similar bill geared toward deporting illegal immigrants, specifically for deadly drunken driving incidents, on Wednesday.

‘The rampant and unprecedented fraud uncovered in Minnesota involving Somali-run childcare centers and nonprofits is unconscionable, and Governor Walz’s complete deflection of any responsibility for this massive theft of U.S. taxpayer dollars under his watch is cowardly but unsurprising,’ Cornyn said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Former Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday condemned President Donald Trump’s move to withdraw the U.S. from United Nations-linked climate initiatives.

Gore claimed in a post on X that ‘the most significant challenge of our lifetimes’ is ‘the climate crisis.’ 

‘The ongoing work of the IPCC, UNFCCC, and other global institutions remains essential to safeguarding humanity’s future,’ he asserted, referring to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).

‘By withdrawing from the IPCC, UNFCCC, and the other vital international partnerships, the Trump Administration is undoing decades of hard-won diplomacy, attempting to undermine climate science, and sowing distrust around the world,’ he wrote.

Trump issued a memorandum ordering U.S. withdrawal from the two initiatives that Gore mentioned as well as scads of other entities.

The president’s memorandum lists the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change under a grouping of ‘Non-United Nations Organizations.’ But the website ipcc.ch states, ‘The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.’

In the memorandum, the president declared that he has ‘determined that it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support to the organizations listed in section 2 of this memorandum.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, ‘As this list begins to demonstrate, what started as a pragmatic framework of international organizations for peace and cooperation has morphed into a sprawling architecture of global governance, often dominated by progressive ideology and detached from national interests.’

Gore, who served as vice president alongside Democratic President Bill Clinton, lost the 2000 presidential contest to Republican George W. Bush.

Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump has approved a Russian sanctions bill designed to pressure Moscow to end its war with Ukraine.

Graham revealed the development in a post on X, describing it as a pivotal shift in the U.S. approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

‘After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,’ Graham said. 

‘This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent.’

According to the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, the bipartisan legislation is designed to grant Trump sweeping, almost unprecedented, authority to economically isolate Russia and penalize major global economies that continue to trade with Moscow and finance its war against Ukraine.

Most notably, the bill would require the United States to impose a 500% tariff on all goods imported from any country that continues to purchase Russian oil, petroleum products or uranium. The measure would effectively squeeze Russia financially while deterring foreign governments from undermining U.S. sanctions.

‘This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin’s war machine,’ Graham said.

‘This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine.’

Graham said voting could take place as early as next week and that he is looking forward to a strong bipartisan vote.

The move on the Russian sanctions bill follows another sharp escalation in America’s clampdown on Moscow. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. forces reportedly seized an oil tanker attempting to transport sanctioned Venezuelan oil to Russia.

Graham publicly celebrated the seizure in another post on X, describing it as part of a broader winning streak of U.S. intervention aimed at Venezuela and Cuba. 

In the post, he also took aim at critics such as Sen. Rand Paul, who has opposed the bill, arguing that it would damage America’s trade relations with much of the world.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

The seizure of a Russian-linked oil tanker in the North Atlantic has highlighted ‘worry’ among NATO and Nordic-Baltic governments over dark fleet vessels and the type of crews onboard, according to a maritime intelligence analyst.

U.S. military and Coast Guard personnel boarded the Marinera between Iceland and the U.K. Wednesday as it operated under deceptive shipping practices, including flying a false flag and violating sanctions.

According to Reuters, Russian authorities demanded the humane treatment and repatriation of the crew members.

Windward maritime intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann claimed the Marinera’s ownership had just been transferred to Burevestmarin LLC, a Russian company.

‘We do not know the status of these sailors and seafarers, who are Russian nationals,’ Wiese Bockmann told Fox News Digital. ‘That lack of clarity is common with dark fleet tankers.

‘The Marinera did have its ownership transferred to a newly formed Russian company, with the registered owner, ship manager and commercial manager being Burevestmarin LLC.’

She also suggested NATO and the Nordic-Baltic 8+ group of governments have been ‘worried’ about sanctioned oil tankers with unauthorized personnel onboard, including ‘armed guards.’

‘Increasingly, and I know the Nordic Baltic 8+ governments are worried about the fact that you are having unauthorized people also on board, also known as armed guards,’ Wiese Bockmann said. ‘But it is highly irregular.

‘Armed guards are rarely seen and typically used on ships that are transiting the Gulf of Aden or the Red Sea and are therefore assessed as at risk from attack by Houthis or pirates,’ she added.

After the seizure, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected Russian demands for special treatment of the Marinera’s crew during her regular briefing Wednesday.

‘This was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that had transported sanctioned oil,’ Leavitt said.

‘The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag, and it had a judicial seizure order. And that’s why the crew will be subject to prosecution.’

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was ‘closely following’ the situation, according to the state-run TASS news agency.

Wiese Bockmann noted that dark fleet crews are often multinational, typically involving a Russian master with Chinese, Indian or Filipino crew members.

‘There is a blurring of commercial and military shipping around the dark fleet,’ she said. ‘What we’re seeing now is something that has really only emerged in the last six or seven months.’

European authorities have also begun holding crews accountable, particularly when captains are ‘facilitating dangerous deceptive shipping practices, such as spoofing and going dark,’ she explained.

‘The EU recently sanctioned the captain of a tanker who refused orders from the Estonian navy (Jaguar) to be stopped for inspection last May. And the French charged a captain over his refusal to comply with orders and failure to justify a flag’s nationality after authorities intercepted a dark fleet tanker in the Atlantic last October,’ Wiese Bockmann added.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, a second vessel, the M. Sophia, was also boarded in international waters near the Caribbean while en route to Venezuela.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday 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 memorandum follows a State Department review ordered earlier this year under Executive Order 14199 and applies to 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 United Nations entities, according to the White House.

In the memorandum, Trump said he reviewed Secretary Rubio’s findings and determined it is ‘contrary to the interests of the U.S. to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support’ to the listed organizations.

The order directs all executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawals as soon as possible. For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to the extent permitted by law.

The administration framed the move as part of Trump’s broader ‘America First’ agenda aimed at restoring American sovereignty and ending taxpayer support for organizations it views as wasteful, ineffective or contrary to U.S. interests. 

Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing, according to the White House.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the withdrawals fulfill a key commitment of Trump’s presidency.

‘Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations,’ Rubio said in a post on X. ‘Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing.’

Rubio said the administration concluded the institutions were ‘redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity.’

‘It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it,’ Rubio said. ‘The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over.’

The list includes organizations involved in areas such as climate, energy, development, governance, migration and gender policy, according to the White House. The White House published the full list alongside the order.

Rubio said the withdrawals reflect a shift in how the administration views international engagement.

‘We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimizing weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests,’ Rubio said. ‘We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not.’

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.