Tag: US President Donald trump

Global oil prices rebounded on Wednesday, rising above the 60-dollar-per-barrel mark, following a fresh escalation in United States action against Venezuela’s oil sector, despite lingering bearish pressures from geopolitical and economic developments.

Market data showed that oil prices gained more than two per cent after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered what he described as a “total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, a move that heightened fears of supply disruptions from the South American oil producer.

As of midday trading on Wednesday, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose by 2.44 per cent to trade at 56.62 dollars per barrel, while Brent crude climbed by 2.27 per cent to 60.26 dollars per barrel, according to figures from Oilprice.com.

President Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, described the Venezuelan government as a “foreign terrorist organisation,” justifying the blockade as part of efforts to curb alleged illicit activities linked to the administration of President Nicolás Maduro, including drug trafficking and human smuggling.

He further claimed that what he termed the “largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America” would continue to expand until Venezuela returns oil, land and assets he alleged belong to the United States.

Analysts noted that although the blockade targets only sanctioned vessels operating within Venezuela’s long-standing “shadow fleet,” the action could still disrupt a significant share of the country’s estimated 850,000 barrels per day crude exports, most of which are shipped to China.

However, Chevron’s licensed operations, which involve shipping Venezuelan crude oil to the United States, are expected to remain unaffected in the near term.

The rebound in prices followed a sharp decline earlier in the week, when crude prices slipped below 60 dollars per barrel on Tuesday, reaching their lowest levels since May. The earlier drop was driven by optimism surrounding possible Russia-Ukraine peace talks and weak economic data from China, which dampened market sentiment.

Reuters reported that Brent crude futures fell by 1.03 dollars, or about 1.7 per cent, to 59.53 dollars per barrel on Tuesday, while WTI crude declined by 1.06 dollars, or 1.9 per cent, to 55.76 dollars per barrel.

According to the report, the United States had offered NATO-style security guarantees for Kyiv, while European negotiators indicated that progress had been recorded in talks, raising hopes that an end to the Russia-Ukraine war could be approaching. Russia, however, maintained that it was unwilling to make territorial concessions, according to its state news agency, TASS.

Market indicators also reflected continued bearish sentiment, as the six-month Brent futures spread moved into contango for the first time since October. Analysts at Barclays projected that Brent crude would average 65 dollars per barrel in 2026, slightly above current forward curves, citing an already priced-in surplus of about 1.9 million barrels per day.

Additional pressure came from China, where new economic data showed factory output growth slowing to a 15-month low, while retail sales recorded their weakest growth since December 2022. An analyst at IG Markets, Tony Sycamore, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the data reinforced concerns about the ability of global demand to absorb recent increases in oil supply.

Although fears of oversupply were partly offset by the recent U.S. seizure of a sanctioned Venezuelan tanker, traders observed that ample floating storage and a surge in Chinese purchases of Venezuelan crude ahead of potential sanctions limited the immediate impact on prices.

Despite Wednesday’s rebound, analysts cautioned that broader bearish sentiment remains dominant in the oil market and that, without further concrete policy actions beyond the latest U.S. rhetoric, a sustained rally in oil prices may prove difficult to achieve.

President Donald Trump of the United States has signed a new proclamation imposing additional travel restrictions on foreign nationals, with Nigeria and 15 other countries added to the list of nations facing partial entry limitations into the U.S.

The decision, announced on Tuesday, is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to tighten U.S. travel standards and strengthen border and migration controls.

Under the new proclamation, the countries newly subjected to partial travel restrictions are Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The proclamation also maintains full travel restrictions on the original 12 countries earlier classified as high-risk. These are Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

In addition, full restrictions have now been extended to five more countries following recent U.S. security assessments. They include Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria, as well as individuals holding travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.

According to the proclamation, Laos and Sierra Leone, which were previously under partial restrictions, have now been placed under full travel restrictions. Meanwhile, partial restrictions remain in force for Burundi, Cuba, Togo and Venezuela.

The U.S. government, however, lifted non-immigrant visa bans on Turkmenistan, citing what it described as improved cooperation with U.S. authorities, although restrictions on immigrant visas for Turkmen nationals remain in place.

The proclamation provides exemptions for lawful permanent residents of the United States, holders of valid visas, and certain visa categories, including diplomats and athletes. It also allows entry for individuals whose travel is deemed to be in the national interest of the United States.

Analysts say the latest measure forms part of President Trump’s renewed crackdown on migration and border security since his return to the White House. The administration has also intensified enforcement actions, including the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to carry out arrests linked to immigration violations.

The inclusion of Nigeria and other African and Caribbean countries has already generated public debate, particularly over its potential impact on travel, education, business and family reunification for affected nationals.

United States President Donald Trump has vowed “very serious retaliation” following an attack by the Islamic State (IS) group that killed two American troops and a civilian interpreter in central Syria.

Trump, reacting on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, described the victims as “three great American patriots” and said the attack would not go unanswered.

The Pentagon confirmed that the incident occurred in Palmyra, a historic city in central Syria known for its UNESCO-listed ancient ruins and previously controlled by the IS group during the peak of its territorial expansion.

Pentagon spokesman, Mr Sean Parnell, said the troops were conducting a key leader engagement in support of counterterrorism operations when the attack happened.

According to the U.S. Central Command, the incident was an ambush carried out by a lone IS gunman, who was later engaged and killed by security forces.

Trump said three other U.S. troops wounded in the attack were responding well to treatment.

He described the incident as “an ISIS attack against the US and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria,” noting that the area was not fully under government control.

The U.S. envoy to Syria, Mr Tom Barrack, said the ambush targeted a joint patrol involving American forces and the Syrian government.

The attack is the first such incident reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew Syria’s longtime ruler, Bashar al-Assad, in December 2024, leading to renewed diplomatic engagement between Damascus and Washington.

Trump said Syria’s new President, Mr Ahmed al-Sharaa, who visited the White House last month, was “extremely angry and disturbed” by the attack.

In a statement posted on X, Syria’s Foreign Minister, Mr Asaad al-Shaibani, condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the families of the victims and the American people.

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attack that targeted a joint Syria-US counterterrorism patrol near Palmyra,” he said, wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.

A Syrian military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the shooting occurred during a meeting between Syrian and American officers at a military base in Palmyra.

However, a Pentagon official told journalists that the attack took place in an area not fully controlled by the Syrian government.

Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman, Mr Anwar al-Baba, said there had been prior warnings from internal security forces about a possible IS infiltration in the desert region.

He claimed that allied international coalition forces did not sufficiently act on the intelligence warnings.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the meeting was part of a broader U.S. strategy to strengthen its presence in Syria’s desert areas.

Meanwhile, Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that helicopters evacuated the wounded personnel to the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria, where U.S. troops are stationed as part of the international coalition against IS.

The IS group seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014 before being territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, although it continues to maintain cells, particularly in desert regions.

U.S. forces remain deployed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast and at the Al-Tanf base near the Jordanian border.

The United States Government has proposed new mandatory screening requirements for travellers seeking entry under its Visa Waiver Programme.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in a notice released on Wednesday, said applicants for the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) would be required to submit their social media history covering the past five years.

DHS said the proposed measure, to be published in the Federal Register, is aimed at strengthening national security and follows Executive Order 14161 signed in January 2025 to enhance foreign-threat detection.

According to reports the ESTA applicants are currently asked to provide their social media details voluntarily. The new guideline, however, makes the disclosure compulsory.

“The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last five years,” the notice stated.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the revision would improve identity verification, curb fraudulent applications and detect potential security risks.

Under the expanded requirements, applicants will also be expected to provide additional personal data, including email addresses used in the last 10 years, phone numbers from the past five years, IP addresses and metadata from submitted photographs.

The proposal further seeks to introduce more comprehensive family information and a wider range of biometric data, such as facial recognition, fingerprints, iris scans and DNA samples.

According to DHS, the move aligns with updated federal biographic-data policies and will enhance the government’s capacity to validate identities.

Another key change in the proposal is the planned transition from the existing ESTA web portal to a mobile-only application system.

If approved, the revised rules will affect travellers from the 40 countries currently under the U.S. Visa Waiver Programme. Over 14 million ESTA applications are processed annually.

DHS said it is inviting public comments on the proposed changes within a 60-day window from the date of publication.

The proposal, if adopted, would represent one of the most extensive expansions of digital identity and social-media vetting requirements in U.S. immigration history.

The United States Government has announced plans to introduce a compulsory social media screening policy for foreign nationals entering the country under its visa-waiver programme.

According to an official notice published on Tuesday in the Federal Register, the proposal will require travellers from 42 visa-exempt nations, including the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Japan, to submit details of their social media history before they are allowed entry into the US.

At present, visitors from these countries are only required to obtain the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), which mandates the submission of basic personal information.

However, under the new proposal, applicants will be compelled to disclose all social media accounts and activity spanning the last five years as a mandatory component of the ESTA application process.

The notice explained that the requirement to provide “social media histories from the last five years” represents a significant expansion of the categories of personal data the US collects from visa-free travellers.

It added that the administration of President Donald Trump also intends to gather what it described as “high-value data fields,” which include phone numbers used within the last five years, email addresses used over the past ten years, personal details of family members, as well as biometric information.

The public has been given a 60-day window to submit comments and observations on the proposed rule before it is finalised.

The proposed policy forms part of the US Government’s renewed crackdown on irregular migration and enhanced border security measures. Since returning to office, President Trump has introduced stricter entry requirements, including the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel to make arrests.

The United States is scheduled to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada, an event expected to attract millions of international visitors.

Observers say the heightened screening measure could affect the number of football fans willing to travel to the US for the global tournament.