President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Cuba to “make a deal” after Nicolás Maduro was deposed in Venezuela, as Cuba faced a cut-off from Venezuelan oil shipments. The message came as the close ally of Venezuela braced for potential unrest, with U.S. forces continuing to seize tankers as they seek to control Venezuela’s oil production, refining and global distribution of oil products.
In a post made over the weekend while he was in southern Florida, Trump said Cuba had long lived off Venezuelan “oil and money” and had offered security in return. He then wrote, “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” and added, “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” Trump did not specify what kind of deal Cuba should make.
Hours later, Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded on X, saying “those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point the finger at Cuba in any way, absolutely in any way.” Díaz-Canel also said “those who hysterically accuse our nation today do so out of rage at this people’s sovereign decision to choose their political model.”
Díaz-Canel further said “those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should be ashamed to keep quiet,” and he railed against the “draconian measures” imposed by the U.S. on Cuba. The Cuban government has said U.S. sanctions cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025.
The AP report said Cuba had been kept economically afloat by Venezuelan support for years, even as severe blackouts had sidelined life on the island and long lines at gas stations and supermarkets had persisted amid what it described as the island’s worst economic crisis in decades. Trump had previously warned the Cuban economy would slide further after Maduro’s ouster.
Trump also addressed Venezuela directly in the same Sunday messaging, saying “Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.” He said, “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.”
Cuba, in a separate statement, said 32 of its military personnel were killed during an American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. Cuba said the personnel were from the island’s two main security agencies and were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.
Trump’s weekend posts also included a response to a prediction on social media that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, would be president of Cuba. Trump replied: “Sounds good to me!”
A week after Maduro’s capture and amid the disruption of Venezuelan oil shipments, the exchanges underscored the intensifying U.S. and Cuban rhetoric, with Trump warning of an end to Cuban reliance on Venezuelan “oil and money” and Díaz-Canel criticizing the U.S. in language that tied economic shortages to “draconian measures.”