Cuba

As U.S. and Cuban officials negotiate over the future of the Communist-ruled and economically besieged Caribbean island, the Trump administration is seeking to push President Miguel Díaz-Canel from power, according to four people familiar with the talks.

The move would topple a key figurehead but leave in place the repressive Communist government that has ruled Cuba for more than 65 years. The Americans have signaled to Cuban negotiators that the president must go, but are leaving the next steps up to the Cubans, the people said.

Trump: Cuba, it's a beautiful island. Great weather. I will be having the honor of taking Cuba. Whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth pic.twitter.com/Po7J9tJMr2

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026

As President Trump tightens the screws on Cuba’s Communist government, its leadership is winning support from Democratic Socialists in America, who are sending an entourage down to the island nation next week to show solidarity with Cuba’s dictatorial regime. The Democratic Socialists of America announced that 20 DSA members will join an international group of humanitarians, the so-called Nuestra América Convoy, which says it is delivering critical aid to Cuba amid an economic and energy crisis caused by America’s blockade of fuel, flights, and other essential supplies.

OMG that little weirdo Greta Thunberg has moved on from GAZA and is now attacking President Trump because he wants to free the people of CUBA.

Check out this unhinged rant 👇😂 pic.twitter.com/RIAREWuSuZ

— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) March 12, 2026

Amid crippling U.S. sanctions, an oil blockade and threats of a takeover, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday said his government has held direct talks with the United States “aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between the two nations.”

The acknowledgment came in a publicly broadcast speech during a meeting in Havana of the top levels of the government and Cuban Communist Party. It confirmed widespread reports of recent secret meetings between senior Trump administration officials and Cubans close to Raúl Castro, the still-influential former president and party head.

If Trump somehow gets Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran all to fall, he should get a Nobel Peace Prize. pic.twitter.com/FrJrjC1pML

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) January 28, 2026

I grew up listening to a beautiful classic folk song about Cuba, La Paloma (The Dove), beloved of my parents and their circle. It’s about a sailor who falls in love with the island and a beautiful woman on it. I didn’t hear it much over the past 40 years while becoming totally Americanized. But Cuba never left me like I did her at age six.

For one thing, my father was making a prestigious mark at Georgetown University teaching and about Cuba’s descent into Marxist hell—much to the irritation of his old school chum, Fidel Castro. And dad started at a time—the late Sixties—when many college students deemed Castro a Byronic hero, and anti-capitalist fervor was at its peak.

The Justice Department has formed a working group to examine possible federal charges against officials or entities within Cuba’s government, according to an official familiar with the group.

The formation of the group could be a significant step in the Trump administration’s public push to topple the regime in Cuba.

Officials from government agencies including the Treasury Department will be part of the recently formed group. Treasury’s involvement could mean the Trump administration is considering further sanctions against Cuba, already the subject of intense U.S. economic sanctions.

The United States is discussing a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, Donald Trump has said.

The US president said Washington was pursuing an amicable form of regime change in Havana, as sanctions continue to cripple the communist-run island.

Tensions between the US and Cuba have risen since Mr Trump imposed an oil siege on the island following the capture of Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, a key ally and oil supplier of Cuba, in January. He has threatened to impose tariffs on any country that exports oil to Cuba.

Cuba has accused 10 people aboard a US-registered speedboat it intercepted off its coast on Wednesday of planning “an infiltration with terrorist aims”.

Border guards shot dead four people and injured the other six on the boat, the Cuban interior ministry said, alleging that those on the Florida-registered vessel had fired first.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was investigating the “highly unusual” incident.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed the United States would get answers about a Cuba shootout that killed four people and injured six others aboard a speedboat from Florida.

“We’re going to find out exactly what happened and then we will respond accordingly,” Rubio said Wednesday while traveling to Saint Kitts and Nevis.

He conceded that “it is highly unusual to see shootouts in the open sea like that. That’s not something that happens every day.”

Note from the Ministry of the Interior:

On the morning of February 25, 2026, a violating speedboat was detected within Cuban territorial waters. The vessel, registered in Florida, United States, with registration number FL7726SH, approached up to 1 nautical mile northeast of the… pic.twitter.com/AEmwtAZ4lO

— Cuban Embassy in US (@EmbaCubaUS) February 25, 2026