Trump says regime change in Cuba may be 'friendly takeover' or not
Trump says regime change in Cuba may be 'friendly takeover' or not
Francesca Chambers and Bart Jansen, USA TODAYMon, March 9, 2026 at 11:44 PM UTC
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DORAL, Florida – President Donald Trump said Cuba would have to make a deal in a “friendly takeover” or face an unfriendly takeover of its communist regime.
“It may be a friendly takeover, it may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they’re really, they’re down to, as I say, fumes,” Trump said March 9. “They have no energy. They have no money. They’re in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis.”
His comments came at a news conference focused largely on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that began Feb. 28 and came after the U.S. military removed Venezuela’s president on Jan. 3.
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President Donald Trump signs the "Commitment to countering cartel criminal activity" document during the "Shield of the Americas" Summit in Miami, Florida, March 7, 2026. Trump hosted the Summit to discuss strategies to bolster U.S. leadership and coalition in the Western Hemisphere alongside the Latin American leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago.
Trump argued that Cuba had depended for decades on Venezuela’s aid, which has run dry after the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro to face narco-terrorism and trafficking charges. Delcy Rodrigues, who succeeded Maduro, has been cooperating with the United States and not sending aid to Cuba.
“Venezuela sends them no energy, no fuel, no oil, no money, no nothing,” Trump said. “Without Venezuela they couldn’t have made it. We cut them off from everything else. So yeah, they’re going to make either a deal or we’ll do it just as easy anyway.”
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba, has been negotiating with Cuba’s leadership to avoid a military confrontation.
The details of the deal that could cover ports, energy and tourism are not known but could include a relaxation of restrictions on Americans traveling to the Caribbean island.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Trump National Doral Miami in Miami, Florida, on March 9, 2026.
Discussions have included an off-ramp for President Miguel Díaz-Canel and for members of the Castro family that ruled Cuba for decades to remain on the island. The U.S. government has floated dropping some sanctions.
After the news conference at Trump National Doral, the president stopped at El Arepazo restaurant in a Venezuelan neighborhood nearby. He was introduced to an 87-year-old man who said he wanted to travel to a free Cuba with Trump.
“We’ll go to Cuba together,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump speaks with members of the Venezuelan community as he visits the Venezuelan restaurant El Arepazo, in Miami, Florida, U.S., March 9, 2026.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump aims for regime change in Cuba through 'friendly takeover'
Source: “AOL Breaking”
