U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Venezuelan tanker M/T Bella 1 remains on the run, as additional strike and support assets—including 14 Vermont Air National Guard F-35As to Puerto Rico, 921st Contingency Response Squadron to SDQ airport in Santo Domingo, and USAF U-28A Draco, EC-130H Compass Call, and MC-130J aircraft—arrived in U.S. Southern Command to enforce and expand the blockade, according to an X post by @ianellisjones in the 28-minute window ending 12:45 a.m. UTC Dec. 23. The deployments build on prior U.S. Air Force MC-130J presence at Rafael Hernández International Airport in Aguadilla, confirmed by Sentinel-2 satellite imagery on Dec. 22, as reported by @LatAmMilMVMTs. Trump's comment follows his statement just before 12:16 a.m. UTC Dec. 23 that "The tanker is moving along. We will catch it," citing ABC via @FaytuksNetwork, amid pursuits of sanctioned Venezuelan-linked vessels into the Atlantic near Venezuela.
