The president Donald Trump stated this Tuesday, from the renovation works of the east wing of the White House, that he believes a diplomatic agreement with Cuba is possible and harshly described the humanitarian crisis faced by the island.
"In Cuba, they cannot turn on the lights. They cannot eat. We do not want to see that," Trump said to journalist Shelby Talcott.
The statements emerged in response to questions from journalists about the possibility of an understanding with the Cuban regime, at a time when relations between Washington and Havana are experiencing an unprecedented escalation.
"With Cuba, I think so. Yes, I believe so," Trump responded when asked about a potential diplomatic agreement.
The leader praised Cuban Americans, stating that he received 97% of their votes, and reaffirmed his willingness to act in their favor: “They have relatives in Cuba. They have been treated very, very poorly. We are going to resolve that. It will not be difficult for us to solve it.”
When a journalist asked him if he could achieve it without changing the regime, Trump responded ambiguously: “I don’t know about changing the regime. I can do it, whether or not the regime changes. It has been a tough regime. They have killed a lot of people, but it’s a country that really needs help. It has nothing.”
The president's words contrast with the more skeptical tone of his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who stated last week to Fox News: "We will give them a chance. But I don’t think it will happen. I don’t believe we can change the trajectory of Cuba while these people are in charge."
Trump's statements come just one day after the magazine Politico revealed that the administration is considering military options against Cuba, ranging from targeted airstrikes to a ground invasion, following the failure of the economic pressure campaign.
The prior diplomatic context includes high-level movements: on May 14, the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, visited Havana—the highest-level direct contact between the two countries on Cuban soil since 2016—and met with the Cuban Minister of the Interior and Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of Raúl Castro.
On May 12, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!" while the Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez acknowledged that they have begun "a process of exchanges" with Washington.
In addition to diplomatic and military pressure, there is also judicial pressure: the Department of Justice is preparing a criminal charge against Raúl Castro, aged 94, for the shooting down of airplanes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, in which four people died.
The Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel warned on Monday that a U.S. military aggression "would provoke a bloodbath of incalculable consequences," while Trump insists that resolving the situation in Cuba "will not be difficult."
Filed under: