With Cuban ally Maduro ousted, Trump warns Havana to make a 'deal'
before it's too late
[January 12, 2026]
By SEUNG MIN KIM
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off
another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela
braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed
as Venezuela's leader.
Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from
those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to
control the production, refining and global distribution of the
country's oil products.
Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and
money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in
the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I
strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not
explain what kind of deal.
Hours later, Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded on X by
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.”
The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed
during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The
personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the
Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.
“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and
extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said
Sunday. “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 also responded to another account’s social media post predicting
that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba:
“Sounds good to me!” Trump said.
[to top of second column]
|
A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to
the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon
Espinosa)
Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly
aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat
by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were
sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas
stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in
decades.
“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 said in his post. He added that "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 island’s communist government has said U.S. sanctions cost the
country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025.
Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years
of an American embargo, would slide further with the ouster of
Maduro.
“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the
count.”
___
Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to
this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
