Trump’s Cuba Policy Reportedly Shifts Toward Military Options

(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump is increasingly weighing the possibility of military action against Cuba as his economic pressure strategy on the island appears to be falling short, according to a report published Monday.

Two unnamed sources speaking to a media outlet said that Trump and senior officials have become more frustrated with Havana’s resistance to US demands for political and economic changes.

“The mood has definitely changed,” one source familiar with internal discussions told the media outlet.

The source explained that early US expectations assumed Cuban leadership would be vulnerable to intensified sanctions enforcement and what was described as an effective oil blockade, alongside perceived US successes in Venezuela and Iran. However, those assumptions have not played out as expected. With developments in Iran reportedly becoming more complicated and Cuba showing greater resilience than anticipated, the option of military action is now reportedly being considered in a way it previously was not.

Cuba’s leadership, meanwhile, continues to push back against Washington’s approach, arguing that US policy is worsening the country’s humanitarian situation. President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Thursday that lifting Washington’s energy "blockade" would be a far “simpler” solution than the $100 million aid package offered by the United States as the island experiences its most severe fuel shortages in decades.

“The damage could be alleviated in a much easier and more expedient way by lifting or easing the blockade, since it is well known that the humanitarian situation is coldly calculated and induced,” Díaz-Canel wrote on the US social media platform X.

The US has proposed a $100 million aid package to help address the worsening crisis in Cuba, but it has been tied to broader political expectations. Cuban officials have expressed skepticism about the offer, arguing that it comes alongside continued sanctions and economic restrictions that have contributed to widespread energy shortages and prolonged blackouts.

As tensions rise, both sides continue to present sharply different interpretations of the crisis—Washington emphasizing political change and pressure, while Havana frames the situation as the result of external economic restrictions and blockades that have deepened the country’s fuel and power shortages.

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