Trump ramping up pressure on Venezuela

A salute from President Trump at Dover Air Force Base today as the bodies of two Iowa National Guard members and a civilian translator were returned to US soil after an attack in the Syrian desert this weekend. --tonight. We'll see you tonight.

As he prepares to address the nation tonight from the White House, President Trump is also ratcheting up pressure on Venezuela, announcing a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of the country. It's a blockade. We're not going to let anybody going through that shouldn't be going through.

Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, called it reckless and a violation of international law. [SPEAKING SPANISH] His defense minister said the country would not be intimidated. But Venezuela's coastline is now ringed by 11 US warships with 15,000 troops in the region. Trump called it, quote, "the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America." The US already seized one oil tanker last week. A blockade is an act of war. I mean, it's like classic definition by all accounts.

Washington State Congressman Adam Smith and other House Democrats forced a vote this evening on a measure that would have required Trump to get congressional approval for his military campaign. The resolution narrowly failed. It sure looks like he's trying to accomplish regime change in Venezuela and that he's willing to go to war to accomplish that, all without any congressional authorization.

Trump has now declared Venezuela's government a foreign terrorist organization that he says is using the country's massive oil reserves to finance an illegal drug trade. But in her new interview with VanityFair, Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, seemed to confirm that the true goal is to force Maduro out. Trump, she said, "wants to keep on blowing up boats until Maduro cries uncle." Late this afternoon, we learned that Dan Bongino, the deputy FBI director, will soon leave his post after less than a year on the job. Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, was the first deputy director in modern times without experience as an FBI agent. President Trump said Bongino wants to return to his conservative radio empire. Nancy Cordes at the White House. Thank you, Nancy. And this programming note-- CBSNewswill carry the president's address to the nation tonight at 9:00 Eastern Time.