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He made the comment to reporters on Saturday night as he was
flying to Florida. It comes in the wake of his moves in recent
weeks to cut off supplies of oil from Venezuela and Mexico,
which he suggested Saturday would force Cuba to the negotiating
table.
His goals with Cuba remain unclear, but Trump has turned more of
his attention toward the island after his administration in
early January captured Venezuela’s then-President Nicolás Maduro
and has been more aggressive in confronting nations that are
adversaries of the U.S.
Trump has predicted that the Cuban government is ready to fall.
The Republican president did not offer any details on Saturday
about what level of outreach his administration has had with
Cuba recently or when, but simply said, “We’re starting to talk
to Cuba.”
His recent moves to cut off its oil supplies have squeezed the
island.
This past week, Trump signed an executive order to impose a
tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to
Cuba. The move put pressure on Mexico, which Cuba became
dependent on for oil after Trump halted oil shipments from
Venezuela in the wake of Maduro's ouster.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum warned that it could cause a
humanitarian crisis. She said on Friday that she would seek
alternatives to continue helping Cuba.
“It doesn’t have to be a humanitarian crisis. I think they
probably would come to us and want to make a deal,” Trump said
Saturday. “So Cuba would be free again.”
He predicted they would make some sort of deal with Cuba and
said, "I think, you know, we’ll be kind.”
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Price reported from Washington.
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