Trump threatens tariffs on any country selling oil to Cuba, a move that puts pressure on Mexico

U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that would impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, a move that could further cripple an island plagued by a deepening energy crisis.

The order would primarily put pressure on Mexico, a government that has acted as an oil lifeline for Cuba and has constantly voiced solidarity for the U.S. adversary even as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to build a strong relationship with Trump.

Trump was asked by a reporter Thursday whether he was trying to “choke off” Cuba, which he called a “failing nation.”

“The word `choke off’ is awfully tough,” Trump said. “I’m not trying to, but, it looks like it’s something that’s just not going to be able to survive.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and a number of other Cuban officials condemned Trump’s executive order. Rodriguez called it a “brutal act of aggression against Cuba and its people … who are now threatened with being subjected to extreme living conditions.”

He accused the U.S. of resorting to “blackmail and coercion to try to force other countries to join its universally condemned blockade policy against Cuba.”

Cuba relies on allies for energy

This week has been marked by speculation that Mexico would slash oil shipments to Cuba under mounting pressure by Trump to distance itself from the Cuban government.

In its deepening energy and economic crisis, fueled in part by strict economic sanctions by the U.S., Cuba has relied heavily on foreign assistance and oil shipments from allies like Mexico, Russia and Venezuela before a U.S. military operation ousted former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Since the Venezuela operation, Trump has said no more Venezuelan oil will go to Cuba and the Cuban government is ready to fall.

In its most recent report, Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex said it shipped nearly 20,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba from January through Sept. 30, 2025. That month, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mexico City. Afterward, Jorge Pinon, an expert at the University of Texas Energy Institute who tracks shipments using satellite technology, said the figure had fallen to about 7,000 barrels.

Uncertainty simmers in Mexico

Sheinbaum has been incredibly vague about where her country stood, and this week has given roundabout and ambiguous answers to inquiries about the shipments, and dodged reporters questions in her morning press briefings.

On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said Pemex had at least temporarily paused some oil shipments to Cuba. But she struck an ambiguous tone, saying the pause was part of general fluctuations in oil supplies and a “sovereign decision” not made under pressure from the U.S. Sheinbaum has said Mexico would continue to show solidarity with Havana, but didn’t clarify what kind of support Mexico would offer.

On Wednesday, the Latin American leader claimed she never said Mexico has completely “suspended” shipments and “humanitarian aid” to Cuba would continue and decisions about shipments to Cuba were determined by Pemex contracts.

“So the contract determines when shipments are sent and when they are not sent,” Sheinbaum said.

Trump and Sheinbaum spoke by phone Thursday morning. Sheinbaum said they did not discuss Cuba.

“We didn’t address the issue of Cuba,” Sheinbaum said, adding that Mexico’s foreign affairs secretary had discussed with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that it was “very important” for Mexico to maintain its humanitarian aid to Cuba and Mexico was willing to serve as an intermediary between the U.S. and Cuba.

`Under threat of tariff coercion’

The lack of clarity from the leader has underscored the extreme pressure Mexico and other Latin American nations are under as Trump has grown more confrontational following the Venezuelan operation.

It remains unclear what the Thursday order by Trump will mean for Cuba, which has been roiled by crisis for years and a U.S. embargo. Anxieties were already simmering on the Caribbean island as many drivers sat in long lines this week for gasoline, many unsure of what would come next.

On Cuban state television, commentator Jorge Leganoa, who usually expresses views aligned with the government, asserted “Cuba was not a threat,” but rather that the island’s authorities were fighting gangs and preventing regional drug trafficking with their zero-tolerance policy.

Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos F. de Cossio wrote on social media platform X that the U.S. is tightening its Cuban blockade after “the failure of decades of relentless economic warfare” and attempting to “force sovereign states to join the embargo.”

“Under threat of tariff coercion, they must decide whether to forgo their right to export their own fuel to Cuba,” he wrote.

Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press