Trump says Cuba 'is going to fall' and wants to cut a deal with the U.S.

Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald on Mar 5, 2026

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President Donald Trump sounded confident Thursday that regime change might soon come to Cuba and said the country’s leadership is trying to cut a deal with the United States.

“Cuba’s going to fall, too,” he told the news outlet Politico in a phone interview. “We cut off all oil, all money, or we cut off everything coming in from Venezuela, which was the sole source. And they want to make a deal.

“How long have you been hearing about Cuba, Cuba, Cuba — for 50 years?” Trump added. “And that’s one of the small ones for me.”

This is the first time Trump has mentioned that Cuba has expresssed an interest in reaching an agreement with the U.S.

For weeks, Trump has said his administration is in talks with leaders on the island, but Cuba has been particularly silent about the ongoing discussions. Cuban diplomats first denied the talks, then called them “speculation.”

Shortly after the capture of Venezuela’s strongman Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, Trump said he wanted the communist-ruled island to reach a deal with the United States “BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he said on social media in January.

After cutting oil supplies to Cuba from Venezuela, he threatened Mexico and other suppliers with tariffs. As a result, the country’s economy, already on the verge of collapse, has been paralyzed. The country’s handpicked president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, announced harsh austerity measures on the population in an attempt to “resist” U.S. pressure.

But the Trump administration has sidelined Díaz-Canel, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has engaged in backchannel conversations with a grandson of Raúl Castro, the island’s ultimate ruler, and other people.

On Friday, Trump hinted that the conversations with Cuban leaders were progressing.

“They’re in a big deal of trouble, as you know, they have no money,” he said. “But they’re talking with us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

Asked Thursday whether the United States was playing a role in the Cuban government’s demise, Trump told Politico: “Well, what do you think? For 50 years, that’s icing on the cake.”

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