US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Washington was in talks with Cuba’s leadership in an effort to reach a deal, just days after he threatened the island’s struggling economy with what amounted to an oil blockade.
“Cuba is a failing nation. It has been for a long time, but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up. So we’re talking to people from Cuba—the highest people in Cuba—to see what happens,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
“I think we’re going to make a deal with Cuba,” he added, without offering details of what such an agreement might involve.
Trump’s second administration has stepped up pressure on the communist-run island since the United States ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on 3 January. Venezuela had been a close ally of Havana and a key supplier of oil to Cuba.
On Thursday, the Republican president signed an executive order threatening additional tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba. The following day, long queues formed at petrol stations across Havana.
Mike Hammer, the US chargé d’affaires to Cuba since 2024, said during a visit at the weekend to Trinidad province in central Cuba that he encountered residents who “shouted some insults” at him.
“I think they belong to a certain party, but I know they do not represent the Cuban people—ordinary Cubans,” Hammer said in a video posted on X, referring to the Cuban Communist Party.
Meanwhile, the US State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said on X that “the illegitimate Cuban regime must immediately stop its repressive acts of sending individuals to interfere with the diplomatic work of Chargé d’Affaires Hammer and members of the @USembcuba team ”.
“Our diplomats will continue to meet with the Cuban people despite the regime’s failed intimidation,” the statement added.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—the Miami-born son of Cuban exiles—have been explicit about their desire for regime change in Havana.
Following Maduro’s removal from power, Trump warned Cuba to “make a deal soon” or face unspecified consequences.
“NO MORE OIL OR MONEY FOR CUBA: ZERO!” he said previously, claiming the country was “ready to fall”.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Sunday that her government planned to send humanitarian aid to Cuba, including food and other supplies, while seeking a diplomatic solution to continue oil shipments despite Trump’s threatened tariffs.
“We never discussed the issue of oil with Cuba with President Trump,” Sheinbaum added, after speaking with him by phone on Thursday.
Cuba’s government, meanwhile, has accused Trump of attempting to economically strangle the island, where daily power cuts are worsening and fuel queues continue to grow.
