Donald Trump before traveling to China: "Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!"

The president Donald Trump published a strong message about Cuba this Tuesday on his social network Truth Social, just before departing for China, stating that the Cuban regime will soon fall and expressing his willingness to engage in dialogue.

«No Republican has ever spoken to me about Cuba, which is a failed country and is only going in one direction: downwards! Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk! Meanwhile, I'm heading to China!», wrote the leader on his social media.

The message arrives at a time of heightened U.S. pressure on the Cuban regime and just hours before the leader embarks on his state visit to Beijing, scheduled for May 13 to 15, where he will meet bilaterally with President Xi Jinping.

The statement is not isolated. Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has implemented a maximum pressure strategy against Havana that combines aggressive economic sanctions with signals of conditional diplomatic openness.

On January 29, 2026, Trump signed Executive Order 14380, declaring the Cuban regime an "extraordinary threat" to national security and imposing tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.

Since then, the administration has imposed over 240 new sanctions against Cuba and intercepted at least seven tankers heading to the island.

The outcome has been devastating for the Cuban economy: energy imports have decreased by between 80% and 90%, blackouts affect more than 55% of the territory with interruptions of up to 25 hours a day, and the projected economic contraction for 2026 reaches 7.2%, according to the Intelligence Unit of The Economist.

On May 1, Trump signed Executive Order 14404 , and days later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new round against GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls the Cuban economy, along with 12 officials, seven military entities, and three vessels.

Rubio described GAESA as a structure that "appropriates everything that generates money in Cuba and illegally deposits it into the pockets of a few close to the regime," and warned that sanctions will continue until the regime adopts "all necessary political and economic reforms."

In parallel to the pressure, Trump has kept the door to negotiation open. On February 1, he confirmed "high-level" talks with Cuba from Mar-a-Lago, stating "I believe we will make a deal".

In March, the White House conditioned any progress on the departure of Miguel Díaz-Canel from power, as reported by The New York Times.

The regime, for its part, has publicly rejected any notion of surrender. The Cuban ambassador to the UN stated on Fox News on May 4: «Surrender is not in our dictionary».

The trip to China adds a geopolitical dimension to Trump's message. Recently, Beijing once again requested Washington to lift the sanctions against Cuba, which, just before the visit, turns Trump's post into a political gesture aimed at multiple recipients: the American public, the Cuban regime, and Xi Jinping himself.