President Donald Trump’s “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast is raising new concerns about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America. It's also fueling fears that the U.S. could be edging closer to war. The Trump administration says its blockade is narrowly tailored and not targeting civilians, which would be an illegal act of war. But some experts say seizing sanctioned oil tied to authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro could provoke a military response from Venezuela. Trump says the South American country is using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes. Venezuela says the move would violate international law.

More drops for AI stocks dragged the U.S. market to its worst day in nearly a month. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% Wednesday for its fourth straight drop, though it’s still not far from its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 228 points, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.8%. Slightly more stocks rose within the S&P 500 than fell, but they got drowned out by the drops for companies in the artificial-intelligence industry. Oil producers jumped with crude prices following President Donald Trump's latest escalation against Venezuela, while Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market.

Trump says he is ordering a blockade of all 'sanctioned oil tankers' into Venezuela, ramping up pressure on Maduro.