US government sees deal with Cuba, no need for military action
Key Points(5)
- President Donald Trump on Saturday predicted that the United States and Cuba will reach an agreement and said he does not expect military action to be necessary.
- “I would say that Cuba and us will make a deal.
- I don’t think we’ll need the military,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
- Trump said the United States wants to help Cuba and open the country to Americans.
- “We want to help Cuba,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday predicted that the United States and Cuba will reach an agreement and said he does not expect military action to be necessary.
“I would say that Cuba and us will make a deal. I don’t think we’ll need the military,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump said the United States wants to help Cuba and open the country to Americans.
“We want to help Cuba,” he said. “We want to open Cuba up to our people.”
The comments came days after Trump used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to describe Cuba as a “failed state” and say that “freedom will be coming” to the island. The Cuban delegation walked out of the General Assembly hall during his speech.
Tensions between Washington and Havana have intensified amid increased U.S. pressure on the Cuban government. The United States has maintained an economic embargo against Cuba for more than six decades and has imposed additional measures this year that have restricted the flow of oil to the island, contributing to fuel shortages and worsening power disruptions.
The Trump administration has said it is seeking fundamental political change in Cuba. Trump said during his UN address that his administration was exerting pressure on the Cuban government and predicted that communism would not continue on the island.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Saturday that Havana remained open to dialogue with Washington.
“We have always been and will always be prepared for dialogue with the government of the United States,” Rodriguez said at the UN, while calling for negotiations based on sovereign equality and without preconditions.
Rodriguez also said Cuba was open to commercial and business relations with U.S. companies, while continuing to condemn the U.S. trade embargo.
Trump’s latest comments mark a shift in tone from the threats and warnings contained in his UN address, although he did not outline what a potential agreement with Cuba would entail. No details of negotiations between Washington and Havana were provided in his remarks.
