Donald Trump is angling to oust Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel after bragging he was ready to “take” the island country in the Caribbean.
On Monday, as Cuba experienced a nationwide blackout with dwindling fuel supplies and a crumbling power grid, Trump called the country “a very weakened nation right now.”
“It’s a failed nation,” Trump said in the White House. “They have no money, they have no oil, they have no nothing. They have nice land.” The 79-year-old added, “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.”
The move may depend on negotiations between U.S. and Cuban officials over the island’s future. Among the U.S. requests is the removal of President Díaz-Canel from power, four people familiar with the discussions told The New York Times.
While negotiators are signaling that the removal of Díaz-Canel is a must, Trump was not seeking wholesale change to Cuba’s communist government beyond a new leader, according to the Times.
The Miami Herald previously reported that Díaz-Canel’s reign may be coming to an end and a Trump-approved replacement would be installed to push for economic and political changes in Cuba.
The publication said the Trump administration view Díaz-Canel “as an obstacle” to changes they want on the island, following conversations with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former President Raúl Castro’s grandson. Rubio is the son of Cuban migrants.
Sources also told the Herald that the Trump administration found Díaz-Canel too ideological and not powerful enough to push through America’s desired changes.
A U.S. official with knowledge of discussions between Washington and Havana also confirmed Trump’s plans to replace Díaz-Canel to the Associated Press on Monday.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
The country has been ruled by the Communist Party of Cuba for 67 years, led by Fidel Castro from 1959 to 2008, then by his brother, Raúl Castro, from 2008 to 2018, and now by Díaz-Canel, who has two years left on his presidential term.
The Times report notes that while the Trump administration has told Cuban negotiators that Díaz-Canel must be removed, they are leaving the next steps, including whether they continue with a Communist leader, up to the country to decide.
The publication’s sources also stated America is not planning to take any action against Castro family members, who continue to wield power in the country of 11 million people.
Last Friday, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, appeared with President Díaz-Canel.
At the time, Díaz-Canel announced the country had begun talks with the U.S. “aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations.”
Earlier this month, Trump told CNN that Cuba was going to fall “pretty soon.”
“They want to make a deal, and so I’m going to put Marco [Rubio] over there and we’ll see how that works out. We’re really focused on this one right now.”
