A pedicab drives past a traffic light that is out due to a power cut in Havana on March 4, 2026.
Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threat of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, saying the communist-run Caribbean island is in “deep trouble.”
His latest comments come less than a week after he suggested that his administration would turn its sights on Havana after U.S. military operations in Iran ended.
The Trump administration has sought to ratchet up the pressure on Cuba since the Jan. 3 military operation to depose Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a long-time ally of Cuba’s government.
The U.S. has effectively cut Havana off from Venezuelan oil, called its government “an unusual and extraordinary threat,” and pledged to impose tariffs on any country that supplies it with oil.
Speaking at a news conference in Doral, Florida, Trump said on Monday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dealing with Cuba’s leadership as the country grapples with a worsening economic crisis.
“It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they are down to, as they say, fumes,” Trump said.
“They have no energy. They have no money. They are in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis and we don’t want to see that,” he added.
Cuba’s government has denied being in talks with the U.S. government, although it has previously confirmed “communications” between the two administrations.
A spokesperson for Cuba’s embassy in London did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
The U.S. president and his allies have since spoken publicly about the prospect of Cuba becoming the subject of another major foreign policy move.
“Cuba’s next,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Fox News shortly after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Trump has previously said that after Iran’s regime is toppled, “Cuba’s going to fall, too,” according to Politico.
The comments, alongside the U.S. attacks on Iran and Venezuela, have done little to allay growing fears in Havana, experts have told CNBC.
Beset by a string of blackouts and a worsening fuel shortage, Cuba’s government recently adopted rationing measures to protect essential services and fuel supplies for key sectors.
The U.S. Treasury said late last month that it would allow the resale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba’s private sector.
