Donald Trump said that he could take over Cuba and do with the island "whatever he wants", Le Monde reported.
At a briefing at the White House, Trump issued his most serious threat to the island country so far, at a time when Cuba was left without electricity.
"You know, I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba all my life. When is the United States going to do it? I believe that I will have the honor of taking Cuba", Trump told reporters. "Whether I liberate it, whether I take it - I think I can do whatever I want with it, to be honest. "They are a very weak nation right now," Trump added.
The systems in Cuba are failing one by one, with the entire island now without electricity. After the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the US, the country has stopped receiving fuel for its power plants and the economy in general. Not a drop has entered the country since January 9, which has also stopped flights to Havana, which has hit the profitable tourism sector, Le Monde commented.
The island is running out of food, medicine and other essential products. The energy embargo was imposed by Donald Trump because of “extraordinary threats“ from Cuba to the US.
The US president said that Havana wants to “make a deal“, which could happen quickly after the end of the war with Iran.
The authorities in Cuba are reporting power outages on the island. About 11 million people were affected, the AP reported.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines described the country's electrical system as "totally outage" and said it was investigating.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned that the island had not received oil supplies for more than three months and was running on solar, natural gas and thermal power plants.
A massive power outage hit the western part of the island more than a week ago, leaving millions without electricity.
Cuba has blamed the U.S. energy blockade for its problems. In January, President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sold or supplied oil to the island.