DONALD Trump’s team is plotting a crushing oil blockade to bring communist Cuba to its knees and force a regime change.
The White House is weighing up a hardline plan to choke off all oil deliveries to the island.
US President Donald Trump has previously warned Cuba to ‘make a deal’Credit: AFP
Cuba’s oil supplies have been severely hampered by Nicolas Maduro’s captureCredit: EPA
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has backed the move, but final approval has not yet been granted.
The nuclear option will be put before Trump as part of several moves aimed at tearing down Cuba’s communist system.
The US president warned the country’s regime to “make a deal before it’s too late” earlier this month.
In a Truth Social post, he said: “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela.
“In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuela dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!
“Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!) to protect them, and we will protect them.”
He warned there will be “no more oil or money going to Cuba” and added: “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
Trump also said military intervention in Cuba wouldn’t be needed – because .
He said: “I don’t think we need any action. Looks like it’s going down. It’s going down for the count.”
Trump added: “Cuba now has no income, they got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil.
“They’re not getting any of it. Cuba literally is ready to fall.”
A total oil ban would be a massive escalation, going far beyond the current focus on disrupting Venezuelan supplies, which have long kept Cuba running.
There is tension inside the administration over whether Trump should pull the trigger, with Cuba’s economy already in tatters after Venezuelan oil flows dried up.
One insider said bluntly: “Energy is the chokehold to kill the regime.”
A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, CubaCredit: AP
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel waves a Cuban flag during a march outside the US Embassy in protestCredit: Reuters
They added that “deposing the country’s communist government – in power since the Cuban revolution in 1959 – is ‘100 percent a 2026 event’ in the administration’s eyes.”
The plan would be legally backed by the Helms-Burton Act, officially the 1994 LIBERTAD Act, which underpins US restrictions on Cuban trade and finance.
After the US moved to seize sanctioned Venezuelan cargo, Mexico has become Cuba’s top oil supplier.
But they are now considering cutting off supplies.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has publicly defended the shipments as humanitarian aid, but officials privately fear US reprisals during trade and security negotiations with Washington.
Trump’s crackdown has disrupted the long-standing energy link between Havana and Caracas.
Figures from the International Energy Agency show imported fuel now makes up around 60 percent of Cuba’s oil use, with Mexico charging Havana for supplies.
Top officials believe the island’s iron-fisted communist rulers are more exposed than ever, with the economy at its weakest point in decades.
Hardline GOP members are already backing a full energy blockade.
Senator Rick Scott laid it out starkly last week: “There should be not a dime, no petroleum. Nothing should ever get to Cuba.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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