Donald Trump was speaking hours before the Cuban blackout was announced (Image: AP)
Donald Trump has dramatically escalated tensions with Cuba, declaring he expects to have the “honour” of “taking” the island nation as its national power grid suffered a total collapse on Monday, plunging 11 million people into darkness amid a crippling US-led oil blockade. Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday: “I do believe I’ll be having the honour of taking Cuba. Whether I free it, take it – think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
The provocative remarks, delivered as Vice President JD Vance stood nearby, follow weeks of intensifying pressure from the Trump administration, including threats of tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba and demands for regime change. Mr Trump has previously floated a “friendly takeover” and confirmed ongoing talks with Havana aimed at forcing President Miguel Díaz-Canel from power.
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People watch the sunset from the Malecan during a blackout in Havana on Monday (Image: AP)
The comments came hours after Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines announced a “complete disconnection” of the electrical system, with no prior failures in operating units. Electricity director Lázaro Guerra told state media: “Crews are working to restart thermoelectric plants gradually, but the fragile infrastructure risks further breakdowns.”
This is the third major nationwide blackout in four months, exacerbating daily outages that have left food spoiling, medical procedures postponed, and families improvising by candlelight. In Havana, resident Yuneici Cecilia Riviaux prepared mattresses on the floor for her children. Ms Riviaux said: “We have no choice. I don’t have a rechargeable fan or a generator.”
Havana resident Tomás David Velázquez Felipe, 61, added: “What little we have to eat spoils. Our people are too old to keep suffering.” Many who can afford it are contemplating emigration.
By Monday night, state media reported power restored to just 5% of Havana residents—around 42,000 customers—and several hospitals, with communications infrastructure prioritised next. Officials cautioned that restored circuits could fail again.
Experts attribute the crisis to decades of underinvestment in an ageing grid, compounded by three months without oil imports. Cuba produces only 40% of its petroleum needs domestically and relies on decaying thermoelectric plants burning corrosive heavy oil. American University professor William LeoGrande said: “Technicians are magicians for keeping the system running at all, but it is way past its normal useful life.”
The US oil embargo, tightened after Mr Trump’s January actions against Venezuela—including the arrest of Nicolás Maduro—has halted critical shipments. Mr Trump has blamed Cuba’s woes on its government while demanding political prisoners’ release and liberalisation.
Prof LeoGrande warned: “Without rapid renewable expansion or oil relief, Cuba faces constant misery, full economic collapse, social chaos, and mass migration.”
In response, Cuban deputy prime minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga expressed openness to US trade and new measures allowing diaspora Cubans to own businesses. These are steps seen as desperate outreach amid the embargo.
As blackouts persist and food rots across the island, Mr Trump’s blunt threat of intervention has transformed Cuba’s energy catastrophe into a flashpoint for potential US action, raising fears of military escalation in the Caribbean.