Trump muses over 'taking Cuba'

US President Donald Trump mused over whether he would have the “honor of taking Cuba” on Monday, the same day the communist-run island’s electricity grid suffered its first nationwide collapse since the US effectively shut off the flow of oil to the country, CNN reported.

“You know, all my life I’ve been hearing about United States and Cuba, when will the United States having the honor of taking Cuba? That’s a big honor,” Trump said in remarks from the Oval Office. “Taking Cuba in some form, yeah, taking Cuba — I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.”

Pressed on if a US military operation in Cuba would mirror January’s capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela or would look more like the United States’ continued military conflict with Iran, Trump told reporters: “I can’t tell you that.”

Trump’s comments came as Cuba was once again plunged into darkness through a power failure. There were no faults detected in the electrical units operating at the time Cuba’s grid collapsed, the state-owned grid operator said on Monday, adding it was working to restore power across the country.

Cuba heavily relies on oil for electricity generation. Washington’s effective blockade of fuel shipments has worsened the country’s energy crisis, causing intermittent power cuts, a rationing of medical supplies and a decrease in tourism, officials have said. Fuel prices have skyrocketed so much that gas can be as much as $9 a liter on the unofficial market, meaning it costs more than $300 to fill up a car’s gas tank, which is more than most Cubans earn in a year.

Nationwide power outages have been reported frequently over the past few years. Cuban officials have previously attributed them to US economic sanctions, though critics have also faulted a lack of investment in the island’s ailing generation system.