U.S. President Donald Trump again insisted this Thursday that he believes the Cuban government is 'very close' to falling, but avoided threatening direct intervention during an interview on a conservative radio program. Trump stated that he believed in the possibility of a swift fall of Miguel Díaz-Canel's government when conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt asked him about the topic in an interview. However, the president made no mention of a possible ground intervention, assuring that 'much pressure cannot be exerted' and said that the possible fall of the regime would be linked to Havana losing the economic backing of Venezuela, after the U.S. captured President Nicolás Maduro and advanced political and economic agreements this week with the interim government of Caracas. Although Trump avoided talking about operations in Cuba, he highlighted during the interview that his Administration's pressure policy on Havana will continue. Last Sunday, Trump had already alluded to a possible fall of Cuba, when on board the presidential plane he justified this by stating that Havana will no longer benefit from Venezuelan oil. Historically, Venezuela and Cuba have maintained a close political and economic alliance since the beginning of the 2000s, when President Hugo Chávez signed a cooperation agreement that turned Caracas into the main oil supplier to the island at low prices in exchange for the deployment of Cuban professionals such as doctors or teachers who were sent to carry out social programs. The military operation ordered by Trump in Caracas on January 3 to capture Maduro left a balance of 32 dead Cuban soldiers, who were serving as part of the cooperation missions between the two nations, according to the Cuban government. In June 2025, Trump signed a memorandum to toughen U.S. policy towards Cuba, prohibiting direct or indirect financial transactions with entities controlled by the Government, and reinforcing the prohibition of tourism to the island, as well as the supervision of travel and related economic operations.
