Essentially, the Castro regime has been put in the driver's seat of U.S. policy toward the island since Obama announced his new Cuba policy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also looking into reports of Iranian drones being sent to Cuba, Trump said.

-Cuba travel, with about 300 flights a week connecting the U.S. with an island cut off from most Americans by the 55-year-old trade embargo on Cuba and formal ban on U.S. citizens engaging in tourism on the island.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called Cuba a “failed nation” and raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the island.

The U.S. state sponsor of terrorism list currently includes Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. In May 2025, the Trump administration granted sanctions relief to Syria to help the country rebuild its economy under al-Sharaa's government.

We will stand with the oppressed Cuban people for a free and democratic Cuba." The tyrant #Castro is dead. New hope dawns. We will stand with the oppressed Cuban people for a free and democratic Cuba. Viva Cuba Libre!

The U.S. state sponsor of terrorism list currently includes Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. Timothy Frudd contributed to this report.

Solar panel specialists install solar panels on the rooftop of a multi-family building in Matanzas, Cuba, on April 13, 2026.

That had infuriated the Cuban government, which accused the U.S. of waging an economic war against Cuba around the world that overrode other countries' laws allowing business with Cuba.

Flights to Cuba will be available from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis/St.Paul. 

Similar fears have stopped other banks from authorizing the use of their credit cards in Cuba. Cubans can open Stonegate accounts in the United States but are barred from accessing them from Cuba.

*Image of horse and a cart on a street in Trinidad, Cuba via Shutterstock

Though Obama had long been expected to visit Cuba in his final year, word of his travel plans drew immediate resistance from opponents of warmer ties with Cuba — including Republican presidential candidates. Texas Sen.

Cuba and the U.S. announced last week direct mail service would restart after a 52-year interruption.

PARIS—Cuba has reached a landmark agreement with foreign creditors over billions of dollars in unpaid debt dating back 25 years.

against the U.S. military base in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay using drones."

Obama arrived at Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba on March 20 for a three-day visit, the first time a United States president has set foot in Cuba in 88 years.

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But American history is littered with instances of us meddling in places including Haiti, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, and Cuba, again, to name a few.

(Alex Wong/Getty Images) As he left for his trip to China this week, Trump said: “Cuba is not doing well. It’s a failed nation, and we'll be talking about ‌Cuba at ⁠the right time."

As part of that order, Trump threatened to impose sanctions on any country selling oil to Cuba. Cuba has suffered a worsening energy crisis because of U.S. restrictions on oil supplies to the island.

If owning your own business and having the right to vote is possible around Cuba, why is it not possible for you in Cuba?” Cubans can get back to this life. They used to have it.

But there has been virtually no progress on business ties, a major part of Obama's new policy on Cuba.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) asked Special Envoy Bernard Aronson—who had just returned from Cuba—about a Cuba-bound Chinese ship loaded with weapons that was intercepted by the Colombian navy.

The Obama administration says it is normalizing ties with Cuba after more than 50 years of hostility failed to shake the communist state's hold on power.

Blackouts, shortages, fuel rationing, and empty streets now define daily life in Cuba.

WestJet Airlines has announced its decision to indefinitely halt its operations in Cuba until “further notice.”

Maduro had partnered with communist-led Cuba, and his ouster has set the stage for Havana’s growing isolation.

(Pete Souza/White House)   President Obama and President Castro of Cuba during a press conference they held. (Pete Souza/White House)   The Beast rolling through the streets of Havana, Cuba, while people wave.

Since then, Obama has moved aggressively to ease U.S restrictions on Cuba, and Castro has moved ahead with broad-based economic and social reforms. Yet the Obama administration is unsatisfied by the pace of change in Cuba.