White House Says US Already in Cuba Talks, as Democratic Lawmakers Return Urging Negotiations

Reps. Jayapal and Jackson met with Cuban President Díaz-Canel and urged direct talks amid an oil blockade. The White House says talks are already underway.

Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) (C-L) and Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) (C-R) pose for photojournalists at the Malecon in Havana on April 4, 2026. Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo

The White House says the United States is already in talks with Cuba, as two Democratic lawmakers returned from a five-day congressional delegation to the island on April 5, calling for immediate negotiations and an end to an ongoing fuel blockade they say is causing widespread suffering.

A White House official told The Epoch Times in an email that the United States was already engaged with Havana.

“As the President stated, we are talking to Cuba, whose leaders want to make a deal and should make a deal, which President Trump believes ‘would be very easily made,’” the official said. “Cuba is a failing nation whose rulers have had a major setback with the loss of support from Venezuela.”

U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, and members of parliament during the trip, the pair said in a joint statement released on Sunday. The lawmakers condemned what they called an illegal U.S. fuel blockade.