President Donald Trump announced a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela on Tuesday, via a post on Truth Social, escalating U.S. military pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

In the Truth Social post, Trump declared, “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” warning it would “only get bigger” and that the “shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.” He demanded Venezuela return “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us,” and stated he was ordering “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.” He also designated the Maduro regime a “FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION” due to alleged terrorism, drug smuggling, and human trafficking.

The move, a response to alleged drug trafficking and illicit financing, was accompanied by a significant U.S. military buildup in the region, including hundreds of troops and warships, with Venezuela accusing the U.S. of "international piracy" and "grotesque threats."

In response, Venezuela’s government rejected the blockade as a “grotesque threat” and an “act of war,” accusing the U.S. of seeking to steal its national wealth.

Venezuela deployed its navy to escort oil tankers departing its main port from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, reaffirming its sovereignty and vowing to defend its homeland against what it calls imperial aggression.

President Maduro, speaking before Trump’s post, vowed to defend “every inch” of Venezuela and condemned U.S. actions as colonialist attempts to seize the nation’s oil, gas, and mineral resources.

The blockade follows the U.S. seizure of the oil tanker 'Skipper last week, a sanctioned vessel carrying approximately 1.8 million barrels of oil, which the U.S. claimed was falsely flagged and involved in illicit trade. Since September, the U.S. has conducted over two dozen military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels near Venezuela, resulting in the deaths of at least 90 people, sparking concerns over extrajudicial killings and war crimes.

The White House has defended the actions as necessary for national security, but critics have labeled the blockade “an act of war” that the U.S. Congress never authorized. The Trump administration has also repositioned a large naval force to the Caribbean, the largest deployment since the Cuban Missile Crisis, and has accused Maduro of leading the “Cartel of the Suns,” a claim the Venezuelan government denies.

The U.S. has also imposed sanctions on Maduro’s relatives and businesses, and reissued a permit for Chevron to operate in Venezuela under strict conditions, though no proceeds can go to the Maduro government.

Netflix released the four-part documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning, produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, which examines Sean 'Diddy' career through Bad Boy Entertainment, and explores his rise and fall amid a wave of allegations and his subsequent legal troubles.

The series, released on December 2, 2025, features interviews with former associates, victims, two jurors from Combs’s federal trial, and never-before-seen footage from the days leading up to his September 2024 arrest.

Combs was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act, but acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking; he was sentenced to 50 months in prison and is currently incarcerated at Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution in New Jersey, with a projected release date of May 2028, though he may earn sentence reductions through participation in substance abuse treatment and other prison programs.

In addition to the federal case, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a new sexual battery report involving Combs, based on allegations from a male music producer and publicist who claims he was assaulted in 2020 and 2021  Combs’ civil attorney has labeled these allegations as "false and defamatory."

The documentary traces Combs’s career from founding Bad Boy Records, which launched artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and Danity Kane, to the allegations of abuse and coercion that have followed him for decades.

Key highlights include testimony from former escort Clayton Howard, who alleges he was repeatedly invited to "freak offs" with Diddy and Cassie, often on the anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G.’s death, and claims Diddy collected his semen and had him engage in prolonged sexual activity.

Former Bad Boy executive Capricorn Clark alleges Diddy threatened her life and planned to murder Kid Cudi after learning of a romantic connection between Cudi and Cassie, describing a scene where Diddy arrived at her door with a gun and frothing at the mouth.

Singer Aubrey O’Day claims Combs sent her sexually explicit emails, including messages about controlling her and photos of his penis, and alleges she was fired six months after refusing his advances, feeling it was retaliation.

Former Bad Boy co-founder Kirk Burrowes alleges Combs was involved in the killing of Tupac Shakur, a claim Combs has consistently denied.

Two jurors from Combs’s trial speak out for the first time, with Juror 160 stating she found Combs’s physical abuse of Cassie "unforgivable" and Juror 75 expressing confusion over the couple’s cyclical relationship, noting the couple reconciled quickly after abuse.

Combs’s legal team has condemned the documentary as a "shameful hit piece" and a "one-sided narrative" built on individuals with "longstanding personal grievances" and "financial motives," asserting that many allegations are false and were not verified in court.

50 Cent has denied that the documentary is a personal vendetta, saying it was intended to elevate voices that have been silenced. He admitted to embracing the label of "petty" but emphasized the project’s legitimacy and success, noting it became Netflix’s number one documentary, surpassing major franchises like Stranger Things.

The series has sparked widespread public interest and debate over the justice system, celebrity accountability, and the culture of silence around abuse. It is described by director Alexandria Stapleton as a "stress test of whether we’ve changed as a culture" in how we process allegations against powerful figures, and a "mirror" reflecting society’s tendency to idolize celebrities.