President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Cuba is being cut off from oil and money, and urged the communist-controlled nation to make a deal.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump said, “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
He continued:
Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last weeks U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years. Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT
In December, Trump said the United States seized an oil tanker bound for Cuba while it was sailing off the coast of Venezuela, noting it was “seized for a very good reason,” per Breitbart News.
WATCH — President Trump: Running Venezuela Is America First:
A U.S. official told the New York Times, “It was seized because of its past links to smuggling illicit Iranian oil, not because of ties to the Maduro regime, although it was carrying Venezuelan oil. A federal judge authorized a seizure warrant for the tanker roughly two weeks ago.”
It is important to note that Trump in his 2011 book Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again advocated for taking oil in order to liberate a country, Breitbart News reported Friday:
After capturing former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, noting the U.S. would run Venezuela until the time for a peaceful transition, and revealing that U.S. oil companies would rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, Trump announced on Tuesday that Venezuela will turn over 30-50 million barrels of “high quality, sanctioned oil” to the United States.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” he noted.
A few days before that report was published, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Cuban leaders were “in a lot of trouble,” Breitbart News reported.
“I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro,” he stated.