Donald Trump has backed down on his threat to stop nations from supplying oil to the struggling island of Cuba.
The president, 79, confirmed on Sunday that he approved a Russian oil tanker’s passage to Cuba, despite his administration enforcing a virtual oil blockade on the island since January.
President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to force Trump to back down and relent on allowing the Russians to profit from selling oil to the communist regime appear to have succeeded.
Cuba, which the president confirmed Sunday is “next” on his hit list for U.S. military intervention, has suffered a series of power shortages and blackouts since the Trump administration began to cut off the supply in January.
Venezuela had been Cuba’s chief supplier of energy until Trump ordered the capture of President Nicolás Maduro at the start of the year. Since then, no one has breached U.S. efforts to halt the supply of oil. A Colombian tanker was escorted away from the Caribbean nation by the U.S. Coast Guard last month, but sources told The New York Times that two cutters in the region were not deployed to intercept the Russian vessel.
The Russian-owned tanker, carrying around 730,000 barrels of oil, was due to arrive in Cuba on Monday.
Speaking on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump admitted to his Cuban U-Turn.
“We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload (of oil) because they need... they have to survive,” Trump said. “It wouldn’t bother me.”
When pressed to confirm the report, Trump said “I told them if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that. Whether it’s Russia or not.”
Another reporter followed up by asking Trump if that “helps” Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Doesn’t help him,” Trump shrugged. “He loses one boatload of oil. That’s all it is. It’s fine. If he wants to do that and if other countries want to do it, it doesn’t bother me much. It’s not going to have an impact.”
Trump continued, “Cuba is finished. They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership. And whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter. I’d prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things that you need.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Russian Embassy in Mexico for comment.
The delivery of much-needed oil would show that the island can depend on Russia, as well as fix an urgent problem. In a statement seen by the NYT, the Russian Embassy in Mexico expressed Russia’s “full solidarity” with Cuba.
The statement also said Russia “considers all restrictions imposed against it to be illegitimate—including those related to the supply of energy resources—and is prepared to provide all necessary assistance, including material support.”
Sunday’s statement follows reports earlier this month that Putin was testing Trump by attempting to send oil tankers straight through his embargo on Cuba, according to maritime intelligence data reported by The Financial Times.
Cuba has already suffered three critical power blackouts this month, with Trump’s fuel blockade starving them of the foreign oil imports needed to keep power stations running.
The Communist-led country has endured crippling fuel shortages and an aging electricity infrastructure.
While on Air Force One, Trump was asked about his statement on Friday at an investment forum in Miami where he referenced U.S. military actions in Venezuela and Iran.
“I built this great military.” Trump said on Friday. “I said ‘You’ll never have to use it,’ but sometimes you have to use it, And Cuba’s next,” he said, then telling reporters “pretend I didn’t say that.”
Speaking on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump expanded on his threat about U.S intervention. “Cuba is a mess. It’s a failing country,” he said. “But they’re going to be next. Within a short period of time it’s going to fail. And we will be there to help it out.”
He added, “We’ll be there to help our great Cuban Americans out, who were thrown out of Cuba. In many cases, their family members were mutilated and killed by Castro. Cuba’s going to be next, yeah.”
Earlier this month, Trump said Cuba was his to “take” and was reportedly planning to oust the president of Cuba but leave the Castro family effectively in charge.
As the country suffered from a crumbling power grid and dwindling fuel supplies, Trump called them “a very weakened nation right now.”
“It’s a failed nation,” Trump said. “They have no money, they have no oil, they have no nothing. They have nice land. I do believe I will be having the honor of taking Cuba.”
He clarified, “Taking it in some form. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.”
