IMPOSING SANCTIONS ON THE CUBAN REGIME: Today, President Donald J. Trump enacted an Executive Order introducing new sanctions against the Cuban regime to bolster U.S. national security.
- The Order expands current sanctions on Cuba by incorporating additional restrictions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
- The sanctions target entities, individuals, or affiliates that support the Cuban regime’s security framework, engage in government corruption or serious human rights abuses, or act as agents, officials, or material supporters of the Cuban government.
- Additionally, the Order empowers the imposition of new sanctions on covered individuals, entities, or financial institutions involved in transactions with those already sanctioned under this Order.
COUNTERING CUBA’S MALIGN INFLUENCE: The President is tackling the security threats posed by the communist Cuban regime by holding it and its enablers accountable for supporting hostile actors, terrorism, and regional instability that jeopardize American security and foreign policy.
- The Cuban regime collaborates with countries and hostile actors unfriendly to the United States, facilitating their military and intelligence operations. For instance, Cuba hosts foreign adversary facilities targeting and exploiting sensitive U.S. national security information.
- Cuba maintains strong ties with other major state sponsors of terrorism, such as Iran, and offers safe haven to transnational terrorist groups, including Hezbollah.
- The regime is known for persecuting and torturing political opponents, suppressing free speech rights, and disseminating communist ideology across the region while oppressing its people.
- Under the corrupt regime, Cuba continues to drive migration to the United States, with over 850,000 migrants arriving between 2022 and the fall of 2024.
- Cuba provides a conducive environment for hostile foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist operations less than 100 miles from the U.S. homeland.
- These activities pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, necessitating immediate action to safeguard American citizens and interests.
PUTTING AMERICA FIRST: President Trump has consistently taken a strong stance against regimes that threaten U.S. security and interests, achieving accountability where others have not.
- President Trump remains committed to supporting the Cuban people and holding the regime accountable, continuing his efforts from his first term.
- During his first term, Trump implemented a comprehensive policy towards Cuba, reversing the previous administration’s lenient approach that eased restrictions without achieving significant reforms for the Cuban people. His administration designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism based on extensive evidence.
- In June 2025, Trump intensified U.S. policy pressure on Cuba through a National Security Presidential Memorandum, ensuring that U.S.-Cuba engagement advances the interests of both the United States and the Cuban people, promoting human rights, fostering an independent private sector, and enhancing national security.
- In January 2026, Trump signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency and setting up a process to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba, thus safeguarding U.S. national security and foreign policy from the Cuban regime’s harmful actions and policies.
- Trump continues to address national security threats from abroad through decisive actions.
- Operation Absolute Resolve resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator and indicted narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro and his wife, bringing them to face American justice.
- Operation Southern Spear dismantled 186 narcoterrorists in strikes against fentanyl-trafficking vessels, curbing the deadly flow of drugs into America.
- Operation Midnight Hammer effectively eliminated Iran’s nuclear weapons capability through targeted military strikes, escalated sanctions, and intelligence operations.
- Operation Epic Fury achieved all military objectives within six weeks. Iran no longer poses the nuclear and terror threat it once did, and its nuclear ambitions have been curbed. The U.S. naval blockade and Operation Economic Fury have weakened Iran’s economy.
