The White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, stated this Thursday that Cuba is on the brink of collapse as a nation, attributing this situation to decades of communist policies, during the daily briefing with the press.
The statements arose in response to a question about the growth of socialist and communist currents within the Democratic Party. In his response, Leavitt referenced the Cuban case to exemplify, as he stated, the consequences of that political and economic model.
"Cuba is currently a country on the brink of becoming a failed state due to the communist policies of the past few decades," the spokesperson stated to reporters accredited at the White House.
He then extended the argument to the U.S. political landscape and reiterated the Trump administration's stance on communism.
"Communism should never be allowed to lead this country, and the president is firmly opposed to it and all the dangers it brings. We have seen this happen around the world," he stated.
A speech reiterated by the Trump administration
Leavitt's statements add to a series of messages that the Trump administration has maintained throughout 2026 regarding the situation in Cuba.
The president himself, Donald Trump described the island as a "failed state" on February 2nd. Since then, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reiterated that definition in multiple public appearances, linking the Cuban crisis to the national security of the United States due to the geographical proximity between the two countries.
On May 21, Rubio stated that Cuba is a "failed state" whose "system does not work and cannot be fixed with the current political system." Days later, on May 27, he described the Cuban leaders as "incompetent communists" and warned that the existence of a failed state just 90 miles from U.S. shores poses a threat to Washington.
On June 24, the Under Secretary of State Christopher Landau conveyed the same message to the Organization of American States (OAS), where he described Cuba as a "failed state, a friend of our adversaries" and urged for deep political and economic reforms.
Most recently, during an official visit to Manila, Rubio reiterated that characterization, although he clarified that the United States is not working with a predetermined timeline to provoke a regime change on the island.
An increasingly profound economic and social crisis
The statements from the White House come amid a sustained deterioration of the Cuban economy.
According to estimates from the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy, the island's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by about 5% in 2025, accumulating a decline of over 15% since 2020. Independent projections place the drop for 2026 between 6.5% and 7.2%, which would make Cuba one of the most affected economies in Latin America.
The economic crisis is compounded by the collapse of the electrical system, with blackouts lasting between 18 and 25 hours daily in numerous locations and generation deficits nearing 2,000 megawatts.
Emigration continues to shape the national landscape. More than 600,000 Cubans have left the country since 2022, while tourism —one of the main sources of foreign exchange— declined from 4.7 million visitors in 2018 to 1.8 million in 2025.
Although the Cuban government acknowledged at the beginning of this year that 2026 would be a particularly difficult period and announced a comprehensive package of economic reforms in June, many analysts believe that the measures are insufficient to reverse the deep structural deterioration affecting the country.
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