Trump took to social media to assert that Cuba has long relied on Venezuelan oil and funds in exchange for providing security, declaring, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

In his post from his Florida residence, Trump announced, “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” and urged, “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not specify what kind of agreement he was referring to.

Shortly afterward, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel replied on X, criticizing those who “turn everything into a business, even human lives,” and stated they lack the moral authority to criticize Cuba “in any way, absolutely in any way.”

The Cuban government reported that 32 of its military personnel were killed during the recent U.S. operation that led to the capture of Maduro. These personnel, from Cuba’s two main security agencies, were stationed in Caracas under a Cuban-Venezuelan agreement.

Trump remarked, “Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” adding that “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela.

Long before Maduro’s capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

“Those who hysterically accuse our nation today do so out of rage at this people’s sovereign decision to choose their political model,” Díaz-Canel said in his post.

He added that “those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should be ashamed to keep quiet” and he railed against the “draconian measures” imposed by the US on Cuba.

The island’s communist government has said US sanctions cost the country more than $US7.5 billion ($11.2 billion) between March 2024 and February 2025.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of an American embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”