Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed Friday that his government is in talks with the US — after President Trump floated a “friendly takeover” of the Communist island.
“These talks have been aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations,” Diaz-Canel said. “International factors that have facilitated these exchanges.”
President Trump floated a “friendly takeover” if Cuba. Getty Images He said that the talks are being conducted “on the basis of equality and respect for both countries’ political systems, sovereignty and self-determination of our governments.”
Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to the island after his Jan. 3 raid on Caracas, which toppled socialist ally Nicholas Maduro, and has threatened to tariff any country that sells oil to Cuba.
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel speaks on March 13, 2026. CUBA TV/AFP via Getty Images “It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover,” Trump said Monday. “It wouldn’t matter because they’re really in — they’re down to, as they say, fumes. They have no energy. They have no money. They’re in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis.”
