The US president said that Washington seeks to change the Cuban regime and intends to do so as soon as the conflict with Iran is resolved.
“We have very good plans for Cuba. I think we will have to get rid of a regime that has been very harsh, very unpleasant“, he said, answering questions from reporters at the White House.
“I prefer to act one by one. We will deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran and once that is done, we will stop briefly on the way back to do that. We want to help them“, added the US president, referring to the steps taken against Cuba.
Trump denies that Washington's sharp tightening of unilateral sanctions against Havana is aimed at accelerating Cuba's collapse.
“No“, the American leader replied to a reporter's question whether the US's unilateral restrictions against Cuba serve this purpose. At the same time, he expressed the opinion that Cuba has already “essentially collapsed“. “Look, without Venezuela, this country is bankrupt“, Trump said. “Venezuela took care of them for years, and they took care of Venezuela“, Trump said. He confirmed his intention to work closely to develop a further plan of action regarding Cuba after the military operation against Iran is concluded.
Previously, Trump has repeatedly stated that the Cuban government and economy are close to collapse after Venezuela cut off oil supplies to the island nation under pressure from the United States. On February 27, the White House president said that the United States could “establish friendly control over Cuba“. Politico reported on May 18 that the US government is increasingly willing to use military force against Cuba.