Trump says US and Cuba could reach a deal amid rising tensions: Here’s what to know

On Saturday, President Donald Trump predicted that the United States and Cuba will reach an agreement and that he does not think military action will be necessary as bilateral ties continue to occupy the center stage of US foreign policy.

Talking to reporters at the White House, “I would say that Cuba and us will make a deal. I don’t think we all need the military.”

The Trump administration has declared that its prime goal is to change Cuba’s government. Earlier, a US-imposed oil blockade left the country crippled by fuel shortages and blackouts compounded by deteriorating infrastructure.

In an official address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump called Cuba a failed state and stated that freedom is coming to the island nation however Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez said at the UN on Saturday that Cuba will always be willing to engage in further discussion with the United States.

In this connection, Rodriguez said: “We are open to commercial and business relationships with US companies, just ​as we are with any other country.”

The US has maintained that restriction on Cuba for more than 60 years and the Trump administration has been turning up that pressure after using the military to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.