US Coast Guard says it seized ships with thousands of gallons of oil destined for Cuba
Crews from the United States Coast Guard seize the Jaria Provider in the Caribbean Sea on June 28, 2026. (Obtained by ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Friday the seizure of two ships bound for Cuba that were illegally carrying thousands of gallons of diesel fuel amid the ongoing fuel blockade to the country imposed by President Donald Trump.
The Grace, a 300-foot tanker, was seized on Sept. 5 by the Coast Guard and Mexican authorities in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Mexico, after it was alleged to use covert operations to traverse the high seas, according to Coast Guard officials. Another ship, carrying 200,000 gallons of fuel, was seized by the Coast Guard in June.
The ships’ seizures came amid the Trump administration’s fuel blockade on Cuba. That move, aimed at trying to force changes to Cuba’s political system, has led to a power crisis in Cuba, marked by prolonged power outages impacting water supply, lighting, refrigeration and communications, according to U.S. officials.
The Grace was brought to Progreso, Mexico, “where a Mexican Navy (MARINA) inspection team confirmed the presence of large quantities of fuel in the vessel’s ballast tanks,” according to a news release from the Coast Guard.
Video first obtained by ABC News shows Coast Guard agents equipped in tactical gear boarding the ship, guns drawn, while a separate Coast Guard boat goes alongside of it.
The Coast Guard also announced the seizure of another Cuba-bound ship, the “Jaira Provider,” which they say was carrying more than 200,000 gallons of fuel when it was seized on June 28.
The Coast Guard said that the fuel in the Jaria Provider was also stored in ballast tanks, which are typically used to hold water or air to control the ship’s buoyancy.
“The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. “Dark fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice. The Coast Guard is bringing every capability to bear to interdict these vessels and uphold international law.”
The U.S Supreme Court is seen on June 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Monday limited law enforcement’s use of sprawling “geofence warrants” that track a suspect using cellphone location data from a broad swath of users, including people with no connection to a crime.
In a 6-3 decision, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that collection of location data through a geofence warrant implicates the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures — a setback for the federal government, which argued the warrants were a critical law enforcement tool that did not amount to a search at all.
“An individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records about his cell phone’s location, and police intrude on that constitutionally protected interest when they demand the information — even though for only a limited time, and from a third-party tech company,” Kagan wrote for the majority.
Kagan concluded that location data — which she described as “a personal journal of a user’s movements” — resembles other kinds of private materials such as emails, photographs or documents and should be “shielded from the ‘inquisitive eyes’ of the government.”
“Today’s decision follows from the same judicial obligation, to guard against the same risk of undue encroachment. The Fourth Amendment applies, too, when officials tap into Google’s ‘database of physical location information.’ That database is new, but the principle covering it is not: That principle is instead the one our history has given. The Fourth Amendment must, as ever, protect against unjustified governmental intrusion on the privacy of the individual,” Kagan wrote.
In effect, the ruling requires authorities to obtain a narrowly tailored warrant before examining cellphone data of a broad swath of users in an area.
While the Supreme Court ruled that location data is protected by the Fourth Amendment, the justices did not weigh in on the legality of the search that prompted the legal challenge — instead leaving that issue for the lower courts to reexamine.
The landmark decision stemmed from a case involving a 2019 bank robbery in Virginia. Law enforcement was able to track down the robber using a geofence warrant that included the location data for every cellphone within a 150-meter radius of the robbery.
While Okello Chatrie, the suspect and Supreme Court plaintiff, eventually pleaded guilty to the armed robbery and was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison, his lawyers have argued that the warrant violated his Fourth Amendment rights because it allowed law enforcement to “to search first and develop suspicions later.”
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett dissented. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Alito argued the ruling was an “irresponsible escapade” and “destabilizes longstanding Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.”
(MAINE) — Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner on Monday pushed back on an allegation of sexual assault, calling it “categorically false,” adding that he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”
In a report from Politico published on Monday, Jenny Racicot, a former girlfriend, alleged that Platner, while they were dating five years ago, forced her into having sex without her consent after she had repeatedly called for him to stop.
ABC News has not confirmed the contents of the Politico story.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
VC-25B Bridge, an interim Air Force One presidential aircraft, stands ready on the tarmac on Aug. 4, 2026, in Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. The “bridge” aircraft, a $400 million gift from Qatar, is a modified Boeing 747-8 that bridges the gap until fully customized long-term replacement Air Force One planes are completed.
(WASHINGTON) — “No final decision has been made yet” about the future of the new Air Force One jet donated by Qatar following President Donald Trump’s second term, a White House official told ABC News.
Trump has pledged for more a year that the new Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8 that was given to the president in a controversial move, would be transferred to his presidential library after his term concluded.
Sources familiar with the proposed arrangement have previously told ABC News that ownership of the plane will be transferred shortly before Trump leaves office to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation.
Questions about the president’s plans for the plane remain — including whether Trump would keep it for personal use, if he would leave it for the next president as part of the Air Force One fleet, or if there are other plans in store.
The gifted plane has long been expected to be used as the new Air Force One until shortly before Trump leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, sources familiar with the proposed arrangement have previously told ABC News.
The White House official’s comments on Wednesday followed reports from NBC News and The New York Times that called into question the fate of the plane.
Trump’s son Eric Trump reportedly told NBC News in a text message that it was “not the plan” for the jet to be delivered to the library. “No. That’s not the plan at the moment for Miami,” he reportedly texted the outlet.
Eric Trump, who is involved in developing his father’s presidential library in Miami, suggested that an older decommissioned Air Force One jet would instead be going to the library, not the Qatari-gifted one, NBC News reported.
The Qatari royal family’s donation of the luxury jet valued at approximately $400 million, an unprecedented foreign gift, raised questions from some lawmakers and ethics experts.
The Air Force last year originally estimated it would cost less than $400 million to retrofit the plane to meet stringent security standards, though it’s unclear how much exactly has been spent so far.
Prior to the jet’s first presidential flight in July, the U.S. Air Force said it had been modifying the jet Texas since September to meet the security, communications and other needs to transport the president. Many of the details of the retrofitting on the new plane are considered classified.
Trump in July said plane would be further “maxed out” with security features, undergoing an upgrade that was expected to put it out of commission for about a month in the near future.
Those comments came after the plane carried Trump to July’s NATO summit in Turkey. As Trump prepared to depart the summit, the Secret Service urged the president to take the older Air Force One jet as a precaution, due in part for the differences in security capabilities, ABC News learned at the time.
When asked in May 2025 by ABC News’ Rachel Scott about the future of the plane, the president said it would be sent “directly” to his presidential library after he leaves office, adding, “I wouldn’t be using it, no.”
Trump repeatedly referenced former President Ronald Reagan’s library as a model for his own. A Boeing 707 Air Force One jet was retired to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, in 2001.
“Someday, it will be like Ronald Reagan, they decommission them,” Trump said during the May 2025 event. “You know, they get to a certain age, they decommission them. It’ll go to my library. They’re talking about going to my library in years out.”
ABC News’ Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
