After Months of Threats, Trump Softens His Stance on Blocking Oil to Cuba NYT | Top Stories Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Anton Troianovski and Maria Abi-Habib 31 March 2026 at 17:03 The White House press secretary said the United States would evaluate oil shipments to Cuba on a “case-by-case basis,” after a Russian tanker full of crude reached the island. © Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAn oil tanker near the coastline of Matanzas, Cuba, on Monday. The ban on foreign oil imports has plunged the country into a crisis.