Trump warned Cuba to “make a deal” with the United States or face a complete cutoff of oil and money, claiming the country had long depended on Venezuelan support in exchange for providing security services to Venezuelan governments.
He asserted that Cuba no longer plays a role in Venezuela, claimed the U.S. military is now protecting Venezuela, and made provocative remarks about Cuban personnel allegedly killed in a recent U.S. attack.
Trump also commented on Venezuela’s release of political prisoners following the capture of its president by U.S. forces, crediting U.S. intervention, and reacted positively to a social media post suggesting Marco Rubio could one day be Cuba’s president.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday issued a stark warning to Cuba, saying the country must strike a deal with the United States “before it is too late,” while claiming that Havana had long survived on oil and financial support from Venezuela.
In a series of posts on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump alleged that Cuba had “lived” for many years on “large amounts of oil and money” supplied by Venezuela. He threatened to cut off any such support going forward unless Cuba agreed to terms with Washington.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump wrote in an all-caps post. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
Trump further claimed that, in exchange for Venezuelan oil and money, Cuba had provided “security services” to the last two Venezuelan governments, which he described as dictatorships. “BUT NOT ANYMORE!” he added.
In one of his most controversial remarks, Trump asserted that many Cubans involved in these security arrangements had been killed during what he described as a recent U.S. attack, and claimed that Venezuela no longer required Cuban protection.
“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,” Trump wrote.
Rubio As Cuban President?
Earlier on Sunday, Trump shared a screenshot of a post on X (formerly Twitter) by a user named Cliff Smith that read, “Marco Rubio will be President of Cuba,” accompanied by a laughing emoji. Trump responded to the post by writing, “Sounds good to me!”
Trump’s comments came amid reports that political prisoners in Venezuela had been released following the capture of the country’s president by U.S. forces. According to Bloomberg, those freed included a leader from the party of opposition figure María Corina Machado.
Reacting to the releases, Trump praised the move and warned against future dissent.
“Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners. Thank you!” he wrote. “I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done. I HOPE THEY NEVER FORGET! If they do, it will not be good for them.”
Neither the governments of Cuba nor Venezuela have publicly responded to Trump’s latest statements.
