President Donald Trump has announced secondary tariffs on foreign countries that purchase oil and gas from Venezuela. The tariffs are in response to Venezuela “purposefully and deceitfully” sending illegal alien gang members, including those with Tren de Aragua, to the United States via the southern border, Trump said.
The tariffs announced by Trump on Monday via Truth Social, indicate that any country purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela “will be forced to pay a tariff of 25 percent to the United States on any trade they do with our country.”
“All documentation will be signed and registered, and the Tariff will take place on April 2nd, 2025, LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA,” Trump wrote.
Trump said the tariffs are a result of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s regime “purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature.”
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“Among the gangs they sent to the United States, is Tren de Aragua, which has been given the designation of ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization,’” Trump wrote. “We are in the process of returning them to Venezuela — it is a big task! In addition, Venezuela has been very hostile to the United States and the Freedoms which we espouse.”
This week, Maduro said he had reached an agreement with Trump to begin accepting deportation flights of its nationals from the U.S. Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds of Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador just before a federal judge ordered the deportations to be halted.
Late last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 68 Tren de Aragua gang members in less than a week, and in less than the first 100 days of the administration, close to 400 Tren de Aragua gang members have been arrested.
As Breitbart News reported in 2024, Tren de Aragua flourished in the U.S. under former President Joe Biden’s lax border policies that funneled migrants into American communities.
At least 600 Tren de Aragua gang members, all from Venezuela, were living in 15 states and possibly eight more states as of 2024. Experts, though, say that estimate is very low, and the actual total is likely far greater.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
