Cuba Admits to Having ‘Secret’ Talks With White House After Weeks of Trump Takeover Threats

(Ramon Espinosa/AP photo)

Cuba has admitted to holding “secret” meetings with the Trump administration after weeks of the president threatening to undertake a “friendly takeover” of the island nation.

The meetings came as Cuba grapples with a devastating fuel shortage and an “unstable” power grid, The New York Times reported on Friday.

“Agendas are built, negotiations and conversations take place, and agreements are reached — things we are still far from because we are in the initial phases of this process,’’ Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said during a news conference as he confirmed reports of “secret” meetings between Havana and Washington.

Since late February, President Donald Trump has been threatening a “friendly takeover” of Cuba after U.S. forces swept through Venezuela and arrested its dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

“They don’t have anything right now, but they’re talking with us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn on February 27, the day before Operation Epic Fury kicked off in Iran.

He added: “We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba after many, many years. We’ve had a lot of years of dealing with you. I’ve been hearing about Cuba since I’m a little boy, but they’re in big trouble, and we could — well, something good.”

He repeated the statement weeks later, on March 9, this time adding, “It may not be a friendly takeover.”

The threats have been echoed by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who said earlier this month during a Fox News appearance that after Iran, “Cuba’s next.”

“They’re gonna fall,” he added to Fox host Trey Gowdy. “This communist dictatorship in Cuba, their days are numbered.”

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