Trump calls Cuba a failed state as Cuban delegation walks out

US President Donald Trump called Cuba an 'absolutely failed state' and said it will fall, during an address that prompted the Cuban delegation to walk out. He said Secretary of State Marco Rubio is handling negotiations with Cuba and is 'deep into negotiations'.

Trump said his administration is seeking a fundamental change in Cuba, where he said the communist regime is under the biggest pressure it has ever faced. He said the United States will not allow foreign adversaries to have a footprint in Cuba or allow Cuba to continue what he called subversive methods.

He accused the Cuban government of spending decades coordinating with left-wing radicals and communist networks in the United States. He named the Communist Party USA, Antifa and the Democratic Socialists of America as groups he said the Cuban regime had cultivated ties with. He said: 'Communism will never be coming to America but freedom will be coming to Cuba and safety and security will be coming to Mexico.'

The remarks formed part of a wider address that also touched on China and artificial intelligence. Before the Cuba passage, Trump spoke about common ground with Xi Jinping and possible agreements, making it unlikely he would announce sanctions affecting China and its business relationship with Russia. Later he described AI as superintelligence and said the United States needed to win that race.

Trump has repeatedly criticised Cuba and has described the Western Hemisphere as a US sphere of influence, in a play on the Monroe Doctrine. He also linked Cuba to domestic US left-wing groups. The remarks came a day after he met Mayor Mamdani, a figure he has built a good relationship with and who was described as a leader of the Democratic Socialist Party in the United States.