Testing Trump's Hardball Strategy: Can Economic Coercion Force Cuba to Yield?

Donald Trump once boasted he would have "the honour of taking Cuba." To turn that vision into reality, his administration has turned to economic coercion—imposing a punishing oil embargo that has left ordinary Cubans scrambling for fuel, food, medicine, and clean water. Yet the regime in Havana shows no signs of buckling. This report examines the dimensions of the standoff: from the Washington political calculus to the views of Cuban-Americans who remember the island's past, and whether the Cuban government's stubbornness is blocking its own path to relief. As Trump seeks a deal, the question remains whether his hardball tactics can break the impasse or if they only deepen the suffering of the very people he claims to help.