Trump says US could ‘do whatever it wants’ to Cuba amid blackout crisis

Donald Trump said he would be “honoured to take over Cuba,” after a US-imposed oil embargo triggered a nationwide blackout that plunged the island into darkness.

The US president on Monday stated that he could do “whatever he wants” to Cuba, as negotiations with Havana over the country’s future continued.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said:

“You know, all my life I’ve heard things about the US and Cuba. When is the US going to do it? I believe I’ll have the honour of taking over Cuba. Whether I liberate it or take it over, I think I can do whatever I want with it. You want to know the truth. Right now it’s a very weakened nation.”

Shortly after his remarks, The New York Times, citing four anonymous sources familiar with the talks, reported that US officials had recently told Cuba to remove President Miguel Díaz-Canel from power.

Washington has intensified pressure on Cuba since January, when it abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the island’s key ally.

Trump halted Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to impose tariffs on any country supplying oil to the island, a move that has crippled its ageing electricity grid.

Cuba’s national grid operator said roughly 10 million people were left without power due to the US-driven oil blockade, which paralysed the country’s already fragile electricity generation system.

The grid operator UNE said on social media on Monday that it was investigating the causes of the latest outage, one in a series of widespread blackouts lasting hours or even days.

According to LSEG ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters, Cuba has received only two small vessels carrying oil imports so far this year.

The first tanker, which unloaded fuel at Havana port in January, came from Mexico, which had previously been a regular supplier to the island. A second ship from Jamaica in February delivered liquefied petroleum gas, commonly used as cooking fuel.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban counter-revolutionary migrants, has long openly called for regime change in Havana. Trump had earlier urged a “friendly takeover,” but recently told reporters: “It may not be a friendly takeover.”

After removing Maduro from power in January and subsequently launching strikes on Iran alongside Israel, Trump has made clear that Cuba could be “next.”

Díaz-Canel said on Friday that he expects talks with the US to proceed “on the basis of equality and respect for the political systems, sovereignty, and self-determination of both countries.”

“When tensions have arisen in our relations with the US, efforts have always been made to find channels for dialogue. I think the most recent example was the talks held with President Obama,” Díaz-Canel told reporters.

US media reports suggest that Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the 41-year-old grandson of revolutionary leader Raúl Castro, has been engaged in backchannel talks with the US administration.

According to American media, there have been widespread leaks from Washington indicating that Rodríguez Castro, often referred to as “Raulito,” met with US officials, including during the Caribbean leaders’ Caricom meeting held in Saint Kitts in February.

Carlos Alzugaray, Cuba’s former ambassador to the EU, said this reflects a clear message of unity from the Cuban government:

“This is not the narrative the US State Department wants to project. That narrative suggests this government is in panic and that the US is negotiating with the Castro family; that Raúl Castro is negotiating his departure and is ready to sacrifice Díaz-Canel. That is clearly not the case. The president [Díaz-Canel] specifically emphasised that the talks are being led by Raúl Castro and himself.”