WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — On Sunday, President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Cuba as the Caribbean nation, closely aligned with Venezuela, faces the possibility of significant unrest following the ousting of Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s leader.
Cuba, which has long been a major recipient of Venezuelan oil, is now experiencing a halt in these deliveries. This comes as U.S. forces continue to intercept tankers in a strategic move to control Venezuela’s oil production, refining, and global distribution.
In a social media statement, Trump criticized Cuba for relying on Venezuelan oil and financial support in exchange for providing security, declaring, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump emphasized while spending his weekend at his Florida residence. He urged Cuba to negotiate, cautioning, “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” though he did not specify what terms such a deal would entail.
In response, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel took to X to assert that those who commodify everything, including human lives, lack the moral standing to criticize Cuba in any manner.
The Cuban government reported that 32 of its military personnel were killed during the recent U.S. operation that led to Maduro’s capture. These personnel, representing Cuba’s two primary security agencies, were stationed in Caracas as part of a bilateral agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.
“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”
Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.
Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro’s capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
“Those who hysterically accuse our nation today do so out of rage at this people’s sovereign decision to choose their political model,” Díaz-Canel said in his post. He added that “those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should be ashamed to keep quiet” and he railed against the “draconian measures” imposed by the U.S. on Cuba.
The island’s communist government has said U.S. sanctions cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025.
Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of an American embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.
“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”
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Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.
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