President Donald Trump declared on Thursday, a national emergency over Cuba, accusing the communist regime of threatening U.S. national security and aligning with hostile powers. The executive order also lays the groundwork for punishing foreign nations that supply oil to the island.
According to the order, the Cuban government’s actions constitute “an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” As part of the Cuba emergency, President Trump directed the creation of a tariff mechanism allowing the U.S. to impose additional duties on imports from countries that “directly or indirectly sell or otherwise provide any oil to Cuba.”
The White House described the move as a significant escalation of pressure on Havana. The order states that Cuba aligns itself with “numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States,” specifically naming Russia, China, Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. It also cites Cuba’s hosting of Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility and its deepening intelligence and defense cooperation with China.
President Trump further pointed to Cuba’s human rights record, accusing the regime of persecuting political opponents, denying free speech and press freedoms, and retaliating against families of political prisoners who protest peacefully. “The United States has zero tolerance for the depredations of the communist Cuban regime,” Trump said in the order.
Under the Cuba emergency, the Commerce Department will determine whether foreign nations are supplying oil to Cuba, while the State Department and other agencies will decide if tariffs are imposed and at what level. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will monitor the emergency and report to Congress.
The administration said the order builds on President Trump’s first-term Cuba policy, reinforcing a tougher stance against the communist government.
