You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Cuba’s National Electricity Grid Collapses as Trump Says It Would Be a “Big Honor” to “Take” Cuba

HeadlineMar 17, 2026

In Cuba, the national electricity grid collapsed Monday, leaving millions without power as the country reels from an energy blockade imposed by President Trump. It was the third major blackout in Cuba over the past four months. This comes as The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is pushing for Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to step down. President Trump spoke to reporters Monday about his plans for the island nation.

President Donald Trump: “I do believe I’ll be the honor of — having the honor of taking Cuba. That’d be a good honor. It’s a big honor.”

Reporter: “Taking Cuba?”

President Donald Trump: “Taking Cuba in some form, yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it — think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth.”

Later in the broadcast, we’ll go to Havana for the latest.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top