Trump administration sanctions Cuba’s national oil company, blasts Castros

“The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable,” Turk said in a statement.

“Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable.

Trump hints at military action

The Trump administration, however, has blamed the Cuban government for those blackouts. It has also suggested it is willing to take military action in Cuba to force regime change.

In March, Trump compared his intentions for Cuba to the January 3 military offensive he took against Venezuela, which culminated in the abduction of the South American country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.

“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” Trump said.

“Cuba’s in its last moments of life as it was. It’ll have a great new life, but it’s in its last moments of life the way it is.”

It is unclear how far the US will go to trigger change in Cuba, though. Officials on both sides have been involved in ongoing talks, as Cuba seeks relief from the oil blockade.

In March, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had proposed the removal of President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the country’s first non-Castro leader since 1959. Cuban officials, however, have publicly rejected that idea.

Last month, the Trump administration also filed a criminal indictment in the US against former Cuban President Raul Castro over the 1996 downing of an activist plane. Diaz-Canel denounced the charges, however, as an effort to “justify the folly of a military aggression”.

Critics also point to the buildup of US military assets in the Caribbean Sea as a signal that the Trump administration is preparing to take aggressive action against Cuba. In May, for instance, an aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, arrived in the Caribbean.

Two high-level military leaders have also visited the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in recent weeks. Last month, it was General Francis Donovan, the leader of the US Southern Command. This week, it was Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

On Wednesday, Hegseth again hinted at the possibility of US military action, as he warned Cuba not to make the kind of “wrong decision” that “ creates the kind of threat the United States may have to deal with”.

The Trump administration has long maintained that Cuba represents a national security threat to the US.

In Thursday’s statement, Rubio also underscored that the US would continue to place sanctions on Cuba until a government change occurred.

“President Trump wants a new future for the Cuban people with greater economic and political freedom and opportunity,” he wrote. “Until then, we will continue to target the Communist regime’s ability to leverage its energy trade to further its corrupt agenda and violently repress the Cuban people.”