Trump ally openly cheers starving neighboring country as negotiation tool

Following President Donald Trump’s threatening demand to Cuba for its leaders to “make a deal” with his administration, his former deputy national security advisor KT McFarland boasted Monday that the president was in a solid negotiating position thanks to the recent U.S. attack on Venezuela, which she excitedly cheered would starve Cubans ‘in about a week’s time.”

After the U.S. attack and takeover of Venezuela, which saw the capture of President Nicholas Maduro, the Trump administration has set its sights on Cuba as its next target, with a number of Republicans feverishly taunting Cuban officials over what they warn is their impending demise.

On Sunday, Trump demanded of Cuban leaders to “make a deal” favorable to the United States before it became “too late,” a warning strikingly similar to the one he issued Maduro before his capture.

Appearing on Fox Business Monday, McFarland was asked by Stuart Varney whether she believed Cuban leadership would be willing to negotiate with Trump.

“I don't think the top guy will make a deal because they’re ideologues, they’re zealots, they're going down with the ship,” McFarland said.

“The question will be [whether] the next tier of leaders in Cuba want to make a deal because they're not going to have any money in about a week's time; they're not going to be able to feed their people, they're not going to have gasoline, they're not going to have anything! So at what point do they cut a deal? I'm sure we're already talking to them.”

While the Trump administration has aggressively ramped up its threats against Cuba in recent days, the U.S. government has sought to topple Cuba’s government for decades, starting back in 1959 when the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown during the Cuban Revolution.

The Trump administration has also ramped up threats against other countries, including Iran and Colombia, something Varney appeared to champion.

“Niceragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Iran... there's real movement afoot!” Varney exclaimed.

McFarland concurred, while also noting the role oil played in the Trump administration’s increasingly hostile foreign policy.

“There's huge movement, and there's oil, a lot of it is oil!” McFarland said. “Oil everywhere that Trump wants to control.”