Trump Says There Won't Be 'Escalation' With Cuba

Trump told reporters Wednesday that the latest actions by the DOJ represent a significant moment for Cuban-Americans.

Published: 5/20/2026, 4:35:16 PM EDT

Trump Says There Won't Be 'Escalation' With Cuba — A Cuban flag near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, on Jan. 15, 2025. (Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has indicated there won’t be any "escalation" with Cuba after the United States indicted its former leader, Raúl Castro.

"No. There won't be escalation. I don't think there needs to be. Look, the place is falling apart. It's a mess, and they've sort of lost control,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.

The president said Cuba was “failing" but stressed that the United States is “freeing up” the communist-controlled island nation.

Trump made the remarks hours after the Department of Justice charged Castro for his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro, at the time, had been serving as Cuba's defense minister.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that the latest actions by the DOJ represent a significant moment for Cuban-Americans and also Cubans who fled the country due to unrest and want to see their families back home.

"I think it's a very big day, a very important day," Trump said.

Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, called the U.S. actions a “political maneuver” without any legal foundation.

The United States began ratcheting up pressure on Cuba after the military earlier this year captured President Nicolás Maduro.

The day after that military operation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Cuba's government was "in a lot of trouble.” Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, braced for potential unrest after Maduro was captured.

Trump at the time called for the Cuban government "to make a deal BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” suggesting its dependence on Venezuela is over.

“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!” Trump wrote in a Jan. 11 post on Truth Social.

Trump also signed an executive order on Jan. 30 to impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba.

On Feb. 28, the day before the U.S.-Israel war in Iran began, Trump said the United States was in talks with Havana and raised the possibility of a "friendly takeover of Cuba," but didn't offer any details at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.