Photo / Mexican Foreign Ministry via AFPUS President Donald Trump today suggested a “friendly takeover” of communist-led Cuba, with tensions high between Washington and Havana after the US toppling of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro. The Trump administration has imposed a strict oil embargo on Cuba since ousting Havana’s key regional backer, bringing the island nation to the brink of economic collapse. But they’re talking with us and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House. Cuba has been under a US trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Relations thawed in recent years but have plunged again since Trump took office for his second term, with the US President seeking to tighten Washington’s grip on Latin America.

Source: New Zealand Herald February 28, 2026 12:51 UTC