President Trump
Donald TrumpDemocrats defeat GOP effort to declare 'lost confidence' in Biden after Afghanistan withdrawal Prosecutors say Jan. 6 rioters committed roughly 1,000 assaults on federal officers Texas emerges as new battleground in abortion fight MORE will allow U.S. citizens to sue companies doing business in Cuba, according to a senior administration official, in his latest move to ramp up pressure on the communist island nation.
National security adviser John Bolton
John BoltonJuan Williams: Biden is right on Afghanistan The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by AT&T - Biden defends Afghanistan exit; Taliban talk 'amnesty' Want to evaluate Donald Trump's judgment? Listen to Donald Trump MORE is expected to announce on Wednesday that Trump will enforce a provision of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act that allows Americans to file lawsuits against companies that benefited from the seizure of U.S. property after the 1959 Cuban revolution.
The decision upends more than two decades of U.S. policy and could inflame tensions with allies that do business in Cuba.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton
William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonHow many voters will stick with Biden? Biden continues Trump's flirtation with complacency Monica Lewinsky fears 'being misunderstood again' with 'American Crime Story: Impeachment' MORE, George W. Bush and Barack Obama
Barack Hussein ObamaEveryone has an opinion on Afghanistan — Do voters care? As Biden falters, a two-man race for the 2024 GOP nomination begins to take shape It's time to own our mistakes and look to the future in Afghanistan MORE waived the provision out of concern that a flurry of lawsuits against European and other companies could trigger a diplomatic crisis.
The State Department telegraphed the move last month when it stopped the waivers on a short-term basis.
Bolton is scheduled to speak in Miami about the Trump administration’s efforts to counter Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, a group he has labeled the “troika of tyranny.” He will address the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association on the anniversary of the CIA’s failed 1961 effort to overthrow Fidel Castro.
The administration has recently taken a number of actions to increase pressure on the countries, including new sanctions against companies transporting oil from Venezuela to Cuba. The penalties are meant to punish Cuba for its support of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, whom the U.S. and other nations say is illegitimately holding on to power.
Trump has also sought to undercut Obama’s historic rapprochement with Cuba, which ended the U.S.’s Cold War-era policy of isolating Havana.
He recently scrapped a deal allowing Cuban baseball players to sign directly with Major League Baseball teams without having to defect. The administration also pulled the vast majority of U.S. Embassy staff from Havana, citing sonic attacks.
The administration in 2017 considered severing all diplomatic relations with Cuba, before settling on a series of actions that tightened trade and travel restrictions that were loosened by Obama, according to documents obtained by The Hill.
