Grandson of ex-Cuban leader Raúl Castro open to talks with Trump

Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban president Raúl Castro, has signalled his willingness to engage in dialogue with US President Donald Trump.

“I can negotiate with any representative of the United States. If the opportunity arises, then of course with Trump,” he said during a series of exclusive interviews with USA TODAY conducted over two days in June in Havana.

Rodríguez Castro noted that politics has never been his calling, but said he would be prepared to take on such a role if “at some point such participation is required in our revolutionary cause.”

He also said that, under certain conditions, Cuba would be willing to “release political prisoners.”

Outside Cuba, Rodríguez Castro remains a largely unknown figure. He holds no official position in the government and rarely appears in Cuban state media. He had also never previously granted an interview to a US media outlet. 

Recent tensions between Cuba and the United States stem from the pressure campaign pursued by the second Trump administration.

In early 2026, after a US intervention in Venezuela led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and disrupted Venezuelan oil supplies to Cuba, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring Cuba an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to US national security. 

The order authorised tariffs on third countries supplying oil to the island, worsening Cuba's already severe fuel and economic crisis.

By Jeyhun Aghazada