‘We’re Going To Make A Deal’: Trump On Cuba After US Moves To Cut Oil Supplies

Last Updated:February 02, 2026, 02:26 IST

Trump said Cuba no longer has Venezuela to prop up its economy as the US moved to restrict oil supplies.

Trump said Cuba is in “bad shape” and lacks Venezuelan support as the US moves to tighten sanctions. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump said he believes a deal with Cuba is possible and that talks with senior Cuban officials are underway, even as his administration steps up economic pressure on the island by targeting its fuel supplies.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump described Cuba as a “failing nation" and said it no longer has Venezuela to support its economy. “So we’re talking to the people from Cuba — the highest people in Cuba — to see what happens," Trump said. “I think we’re going to make a deal with Cuba. It’s in bad shape. Cuba has a humanitarian problem."

Trump said any agreement should address the concerns of Cuban migrants in the United States who, he claimed, had been mistreated by the Cuban government and have been unable to return home or see their families for years.

The remarks come days after Trump signed an executive order authorising additional tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba, a move aimed at further isolating Havana amid its worst economic crisis in decades.

The US has accused Cuba of relying on subsidised energy imports to prop up its economy.

Cuba had long depended on cheap oil from Venezuela, but those supplies have dried up following the US-backed removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. Trump has since warned Havana to “make a deal soon", declaring that there would be “no more oil or money for Cuba".

The economic squeeze has deepened hardship on the island. Cuba has been hit by prolonged power outages lasting up to 20 hours a day, shortages of food, fuel and medicine, and a mass exodus of people seeking opportunities abroad.

Hours after the latest US measures were announced, long queues formed at fuel stations in Havana.

“This will directly hit ordinary Cubans sooner or later," Jorge Rodriguez, a 60-year-old IT worker, told AFP as he waited in line. “That’s clearly the intention."

Cuban President Miguel Díaz‑Canel condemned the US actions, accusing what he called a “fascist, criminal and genocidal" cabal in Washington of trying to suffocate Cuba’s economy. Havana has rejected US pressure and warned against attempts at regime change.

Trump and his Cuban-American Secretary of State Marco Rubio have made no secret of their desire to see political change in Cuba.

News world ‘We’re Going To Make A Deal’: Trump On Cuba After US Moves To Cut Oil Supplies

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