The Daily Fuckup

President Donald Trump signed a Cuba memorandum on June 30, 2025 that revives a harder line toward Havana and tells federal agencies to begin moving on specific policy changes. The White House says the memo is meant to steer money away from the Cuban government and toward the Cuban people, while restoring and strengthening the Cuba policy from Trump’s first term. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/national-security-presidential-memorandum-nspm-5/))

The order does not instantly rewrite the whole U.S. sanctions system. What it does is set a 30-day deadline for Treasury and Commerce, working with State and Transportation, to start a process to adjust current regulations on transactions with Cuba. The memo also directs State to identify Cuban military-linked entities, including GAESA and its affiliates, for a list that would trigger prohibitions on direct or indirect financial transactions, with limited exceptions for activities the administration says support U.S. policy goals or the Cuban people. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/national-security-presidential-memorandum-nspm-5/))

The White House fact sheet says the memorandum also enforces the statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba, with regular audits and record-keeping for travel-related transactions for at least five years. It says the policy keeps the “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” program terminated, supports the economic embargo, and orders a review of human-rights abuses in Cuba along with a report on fugitives from American justice living on the island or being sheltered by the Cuban government. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-strengthens-the-policy-of-the-united-states-toward-cuba/))

The memo goes beyond symbolism, but it still works through the bureaucracy rather than around it. The immediate effect is to begin the rulemaking and enforcement process; the practical consequences will depend on what the agencies write, publish and enforce next. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/national-security-presidential-memorandum-nspm-5/))

The White House framed the move as pressure aimed at human rights, free enterprise and political change in Cuba. Trump’s directive says the United States should promote a stable, prosperous and free Cuba, oppose efforts to end the embargo in international forums and keep economic benefits away from Cuba’s military, intelligence and security apparatus. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/national-security-presidential-memorandum-nspm-5/))