Less than a week after the U.S. captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, the Coast Guard seized two oil tankers accused of violating U.S. sanctions. One of the vessels, seized in the North Atlantic, was registered in Russia.

The Trump Administration is leaning on Venezuela to open up its oil industry to U.S. companies and oust the influence of Russia and China. President Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela will turn over 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S.

As this new era of interventionism unfolds, Greenland also appears to have returned to the top of the White House’s agenda.

We talked to Rep. Adam Smith, the Democratic ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, about all of that and more. 

NOTE: News is developing quickly, and we spoke to Rep. Smith just after 10am PT. Head to npr.org or KUOW for the latest updates. 

GUEST:
Rep. Adam Smith, Democrat, Washington's 9th district

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Less than a week after the U.S. captured Venezuela&rsquo;s President Nicolas Maduro, the Coast Guard seized two oil tankers accused of violating U.S. sanctions. One of the vessels, seized in the North Atlantic, was registered in Russia.
The Trump Administration is leaning on Venezuela to open up its oil industry to U.S. companies and oust the influence of Russia and China. President Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela will turn&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01/06/world/venezuela-maduro-us-trump/heres-the-latest?smid=url-share">over 30 to 50 million barrels of oil</a> to the U.S.
As this new era of interventionism unfolds, Greenland also appears to have returned to the top of the White House&rsquo;s agenda.
We talked to Rep. Adam Smith, the Democratic ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, about all of that and more.&nbsp;
NOTE: News is developing quickly, and we spoke to Rep. Smith just after 10am PT. Head to npr.org or KUOW for the latest updates.&nbsp;
GUEST:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Rep. Adam Smith, Democrat, Washington's 9th district</li>
</ul>
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes">kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes</a>
Soundside&nbsp;is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.&nbsp;

Soundside

The Seattle-area Congressman tells us what he's heard from the Trump adminstration about its plans for Venezuela and Greenland.

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