The White House issued an executive order on January 29, 2026, declaring a national emergency because it views the Government of Cuba as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and foreign policy. The order cites Cuba’s support for hostile actors, destabilizing actions, and human-rights abuses, and authorizes a tariff system targeting imports from countries that supply oil to Cuba to hold the regime accountable while supporting Cuban aspirations for freedom and democracy.

Amid these heightened tensions, on February 2, 2026, a Russian Il-76 cargo aircraft operated by a sanctioned carrier landed at a Cuban military air base near Havana. The move draws comparisons to recent flights linked to Russian military support in Latin America and highlights rising geopolitical frictions involving Cuba, Russia, and the United States, Defense News reported.

The White House writes:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby determine and order:

Section 1.  National Emergency.  As President of the United States, I have an imperative duty to protect the national security and foreign policy of this country.  I find that the policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

The Government of Cuba has taken extraordinary actions that harm and threaten the United States.  The regime aligns itself with — and provides support for — numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors adverse to the United States, including the Government of the Russian Federation (Russia), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Government of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.  For example, Cuba blatantly hosts dangerous adversaries of the United States, inviting them to base sophisticated military and intelligence capabilities in Cuba that directly threaten the national security of the United States.  Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility, which tries to steal sensitive national security information of the United States.  Cuba continues to build deep intelligence and defense cooperation with the PRC.  Cuba welcomes transnational terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, creating a safe environment for these malign groups so that these transnational terrorist groups can build economic, cultural, and security ties throughout the region and attempt to destabilize the Western Hemisphere, including the United States.  Cuba has long provided defense, intelligence, and security assistance to adversaries in the Western Hemisphere, attempting to thwart United States and international sanctions designed to enforce the stability of the region, uphold the rule of law, and safeguard the national security and foreign policy of the United States.  Cuba continues to try to thwart United States efforts to address threats to the United States posed by hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors, including in the Western Hemisphere.

Further, contrary to the interests and foreign policy of the United States, the Cuban communist regime supports terrorism and destabilizes the region through migration and violence.  The communist regime persecutes and tortures its political opponents; denies the Cuban people free speech and press; corruptly profits from their misery; and commits other human-rights violations.  For example, families of political prisoners face retaliation for peacefully protesting the improper confinement of their loved ones.  Cuban authorities harass worshippers, block free association by civil society organizations, prohibit free press, and deny the ability to speak freely, including on the internet.  The Cuban regime continues to spread its communist ideas, policies, and practices around the Western Hemisphere, threatening the foreign policy of the United States.

The United States has zero tolerance for the depredations of the communist Cuban regime.  The United States will act to protect the foreign policy, national security, and national interests of the United States, including by holding the Cuban regime accountable for its malign actions and relationships, while also remaining committed to supporting the Cuban people’s aspirations for a free and democratic society.

I find that the policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba directly threaten the safety, national security, and foreign policy of the United States.  The policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba are designed to harm the United States and support hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors that seek to destroy the United States.  The policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba are also repugnant to the moral and political values of democratic and free societies and conflict with the foreign policy of the United States to encourage peaceful change in Cuba and to promote democracy, the principle of free expression and press, the rule of law, and respect for human rights throughout the world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the situation with respect to Cuba constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and hereby declare a national emergency with respect to that threat.

To deal with the national emergency declared in this order, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to establish a tariff system, as described below.  Under this system, an additional ad valorem duty may be imposed on imports of goods that are products of a foreign country that directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba.  In my judgment, the tariff system, as described below, is necessary and appropriate to address the national emergency declared in this order.

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