Trump warns Cuba to ‘make a deal,’ threatens to cut off Venezuelan oil and cash as Havana pushes back
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday urged Cuba to “make a deal” or face unspecified consequences, warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money to Havana would stop — an escalation that follows Washington’s toppling of Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro last week.
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“There will be no more oil or money going to Cuba — zero!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without detailing what kind of deal he was demanding or how the United States would enforce a cutoff. The president also claimed that Cuban “security services” embedded in Venezuela were no longer operating, adding, “Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week’s USA attack,” an assertion that could not be independently verified.
The flurry of posts, which included Trump amplifying a message that Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the son of Cuban immigrants — could become “the president of Cuba” (“Sounds good to me!” Trump added), underscores the administration’s effort to pressure Havana as it seeks to remake the regional balance after Maduro’s ouster.
Cuba’s government quickly rejected Trump’s claims and the suggestion that Havana had profited from Venezuelan largesse. “Cuba has never received monetary or material compensation for the security services it has provided to any country,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on social media, saying the island retains the right to import fuel “from any willing exporter” and denouncing what he called U.S. “unilateral coercive measures.”
For two decades, Cuba has leaned on Caracas for heavily subsidized oil under a pact brokered by Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, a quid pro quo that paired energy shipments with Cuban medical and advisory support. With U.S. sanctions and a deepening crisis inside Venezuela, those flows have fluctuated in recent years; Trump’s vow to drive them to “zero” would represent a dramatic attempt to sever a lifeline for the island’s struggling economy.
Still, the White House offered no immediate details on the mechanics of cutting off Venezuelan crude or cash to Cuba, raising questions about whether Washington would seek to expand sanctions, target third-country shippers or financiers, or take other steps to enforce the threat. Trump also did not specify what concessions Havana would need to make to avoid the squeeze.
The president’s posts cast Cuba as a central player in propping up Venezuela’s former rulers. “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of oil and money from Venezuela,” Trump wrote. “In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, but not anymore!”
Havana has long denied commanding or monetizing a security footprint in Venezuela, framing its presence as technical assistance and solidarity between allied governments. Rodriguez’s response called Trump’s comments “blackmail” and “mercenarism.”
Trump’s sharp rhetoric on Cuba follows a week of triumphal messaging from the administration as it hints at broader ambitions. The president has recently rattled off warnings aimed at Colombia, Mexico, Iran and even Greenland, signaling a willingness to wield economic and coercive tools well beyond Venezuela. He has also revived boasts about his diplomatic prowess, coming a year after his unsuccessful bid for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Some Republicans applauded the Cuba broadside. “We are witnessing what I am convinced will be the beginning of the end of the regime in Havana,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican and longtime critic of the Cuban government, wrote in Spanish on X, predicting that “the tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump.”
Trump’s threats land as Cuba grapples with electricity shortages, food and fuel scarcities, and a deepening currency crisis that has driven record emigration. Analysts say any further disruption to oil supplies — whether from Venezuela or other sources — could exacerbate rolling blackouts and compound hardship for ordinary Cubans.
The United States has maintained a trade embargo on Cuba for more than six decades, with periods of tightening and loosening under successive administrations. Trump reversed portions of the Obama-era thaw during his first term and has since signaled an even more confrontational approach. Whether Sunday’s ultimatum adds up to a new policy, a sanctions expansion or a symbolic warning remains unclear.
The Cuban government gave no indication it would engage on Trump’s terms. “As with any sovereign country,” Rodriguez said, “Cuba makes its own decisions.”
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
