Donald Trump warned Cuba to strike a deal with him “before it’s too late” in a blistering Truth Social post early Sunday morning.
The president, 79, has escalated his threats against several Latin American countries, including Cuba and its leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, following the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided “Security Services” for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!” Trump began his post.
“Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last weeks U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years. Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”
He concluded: “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT.”
After his shock invasion, Trump declared himself in charge of Venezuela and announced his strategy to sell millions of barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil and exert control over the proceeds. His ambitious endeavor poses a severe risk to Cuba, where Venezuela covers roughly half of the country’s oil deficit, according to Reuters.
The president appears to be making good on his promise. On Friday, Trump hosted a high-stakes meeting at the White House with nearly two dozen global oil executives—including representatives from Chevron, Exxon, and ConocoPhillips—seeking to pressure companies into pouring billions of dollars into Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. The meeting ultimately fell short of expectations, with most companies stopping short of committing to new investments.
Trump and senior administration officials have repeatedly named Cuba as a potential target in recent days and have blamed the island nation for many of Venezuela’s problems.
“In some cases, one of the biggest problems Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents fled Cuba in 1956, said during a press conference on Jan. 3. “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned at least a little bit.”
At the same time, the self-proclaimed peace president has refused to rule out deploying U.S. military troops to countries including Colombia, U.S. ally Mexico, and Greenland—an autonomous territory within NATO ally Denmark—over the span of a single week.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has expressed grave concern over Trump’s threats to his country, which is just 90 miles from Florida.
“For Venezuela and of course also for Cuba, we are willing to give even our own blood, even our own lives, but at a very high price,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel reportedly said in a speech after Maduro’s capture last week. Díaz-Canel became president of the island in 2018, the first non-Castro leader since Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Department of State for comment.
