Military intervention, embargo, and sanctions: what Trump put on the table regarding Cuba in his latest statement

President Donald Trump, next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed this Thursday that he wants to "leave the Cuba issue resolved" before leaving the White House in January 2029, in a new sign of the pressure his Administration is exerting on the Cuban regime to promote political and economic changes on the island. During a telephone interview with Salem News Channel, an American radio and television channel, the Republican leader indicated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in charge of the strategy toward Havana. Trump highlighted the official's family ties to Cuba and maintained that this background gives him a particular interest in the matter. "I want to leave the Cuba issue resolved before I leave, and we have someone very good and capable to take care of Cuba named Marco, Marco Rubio. His parents are from Cuba and he would love to do it," the U.S. president declared. The remarks add to a series of statements by Trump and Rubio about the island's political future. On October 31, the president had anticipated that the current Cuban system would not last long and predicted results within less than the two and a half years that, by his calculation, remained in his term. A banner reading "Liberty 250" commemorating the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, outside the U.S. embassy. In front, the Cuban flag, Wednesday, October 28, 2026, in Havana. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Asked about a possible U.S. military intervention in Cuba, Trump responded that he would consider it. He gave no details about the conditions that could lead Washington to adopt such a measure or about any concrete plan by the White House. The statement raises the rhetorical tension between the two countries. Since January, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the Trump Administration has increased pressure on the Cuban regime with oil restrictions, secondary sanctions, and public warnings about the possibility of moving against the island. Trump again described Cuba as a "failed country" and asserted that he has broad support within the Cuban-American community in Florida, an electorate with weight in national politics and in the Republican Party's electoral contests. The president had already linked the Cuban situation to the strategy applied by Washington in other Latin American countries. In previous statements, he maintained that his Administration could focus on one regional scenario after another, following the events in Venezuela. File photo: Cuban flags at an event in Havana The Secretary of State maintained this week that the current political and economic model on the island offers no horizon for development and that the embargo could only be lifted with political and economic reforms of broad scope. Marco Rubio has taken on a central role in the White House's foreign policy toward Cuba. Rubio also stated that Cuba represents a threat to U.S. national security and interests. According to his position, Washington will maintain its actions to push for a change of course in the Caribbean country. U.S. policy combines diplomatic pressure with economic measures. Restrictions on the crude oil supply have deepened the island's energy difficulties, which already suffered blackouts, fuel shortages, and supply problems. The U.S. embargo against Cuba has remained in place for decades, and its lifting depends in part on legal provisions passed by Congress. The Trump Administration has defended that any easing must be linked to guarantees of political and economic opening. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press during the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting at the George C. Marshall Center at the Talleyrand Hotel in Paris, France, on November 10, 2026. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Pool via REUTERS The Cuban regime responded on Monday to Washington's latest statements with a message from dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel, who asserted that the island's "future" will "never be decided from the north." Díaz-Canel linked the U.S. pressures to what he described as a collective punishment against the Cuban population. He also blamed Washington for the consequences of the fuel blockade and sanctions against those who maintain commercial ties with the regime. "We made that clear on January 1, 1959, and it is not going to change," the Cuban leader wrote on the social network X, alluding to the triumph of the revolution led by Fidel Castro. Although Washington and Havana have maintained discreet contacts, so far no announcements of agreements or public progress in a negotiation have emerged. The differences center on the U.S. demand for internal reforms and the Cuban rejection of any external conditioning of its political model.