Trump Initiates Dialogue with Cuba, Hopes for Agreement

US President Donald Trump, despite repeated threats toward Cuba, revealed on February 1, 2026, that he has begun talks with Cuban officials and hopes for an agreement. ‘We are speaking with the Cubans—the high-level officials in Cuba,’ Trump told reporters from Florida. ‘We’ll see what happens,’ he added, ‘but I think we will reach an agreement with Cuba.’ Following the US military intervention in Venezuela—the island’s main ally—Trump has repeatedly threatened Cuba’s communist government. Calling it a ‘failed’ and ‘unstable’ nation, he stated that Cuba ‘no longer has Venezuela to support it.’ After halting Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba following Nicolás Maduro’s arrest in early January, Trump signed an executive order on Thursday authorizing Washington to impose unspecified tariffs on countries selling oil to Havana, citing Cuba as a ‘threat’ to US national security. Meanwhile, Havana accuses Trump of seeking to ‘strangle’ the Cuban economy, where daily power outages are increasing and gas station lines continue to grow.