Trump Orders Blockade of Sanctioned Oil Tankers In and Out of Venezuela

WSJ Minute Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

Business News, News

4.1 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2025

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Plus: Medical-supplies distributor Medline raises $6.26 billion in the biggest initial public offering of the year. And, California regulators give Tesla 90 days to meet compliance after a judge says the company deceived customers by falsely implying its cars could drive on their own. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:28.3	among real estate professionals. Here is your morning brief for Wednesday, December 17th. I'm
0:35.9	Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal.
0:38.0	President Trump has ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in and out of Venezuela.
0:43.0	He also threatened a larger American military presence in the region unless the regime of
0:48.4	Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro returned what he claimed were stolen assets, an apparent
0:53.5	reference to U.S.-linked
0:55.1	holdings nationalized by the Venezuelan state. The blockade doesn't include Chevron,
1:00.6	which has license exempting it from U.S. sanctions. Brent crude futures have risen around
1:06.0	2% in morning trading, topping $60 a barrel. Shares of medical supplies distributor Medline will begin trading on the NASDAQ this morning
1:15.4	following the year's biggest IPO. The company raised more than $6.5 billion dollars on a more
1:21.5	than $50 billion valuation. The listing marks a major win for private equity giants Blackstone
1:27.4	and Carlyle, which along with
1:29.1	Helman and Friedman acquired Medline in 2021 in a massive leveraged buyout. The Blockbuster fundraise
1:35.8	to Throne's Chinese battery maker contemporary Amperx technology, which held this year's
1:41.5	IPO crown after its $5.3 billion offering in May.
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