HAVANA — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on April 9, 2026, that he would not step down, in his first interview with a U.S. broadcast network. The interview took place in Havana on Thursday, with a nearly five-minute clip broadcast that day and the full interview scheduled to air Sunday on Meet the Press.

"Stepping down is not part of our vocabulary," Díaz-Canel said when asked about relinquishing power. "Is that a question from you, or is that coming from the State Department of the U.S. government?" he added. "Do you ask that question to Trump?"

Díaz-Canel defended Cuba's political system and rejected what he characterized as U.S. interference. "In Cuba, the people who are in leadership positions are not elected by the U.S. government, and they don't have a mandate from the U.S. government. We have a free sovereign state, a free state. We have self-determination and independence, and we are not subjected to the designs of the United States," he said.

He accused the U.S. government of implementing a hostile policy against Cuba and having no moral authority to demand anything from the island. He also said Cuba is interested in engaging in dialogue with the United States on any topic without preconditions and is not demanding changes to the American political system.

Cuba's communist government is a one-party system that does not allow an opposition party. Candidates for Cuba's National Assembly must belong to the Communist Party. Before assuming a leadership role, officials must be elected at the grassroots level in their electoral district by thousands of Cubans.

The interview came as Cuba faces petroleum shortages. The Cuban government has attributed those shortages to a U.S. energy blockade, saying they have affected the country's health system, public transportation, and the production of goods and services. Cuba stopped receiving key oil shipments from Venezuela after the U.S. attacked that country in early January and arrested its then-leader. Cuba produces 40% of the fuel it consumes domestically.

A Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil arrived in Cuba in late March, the first oil shipment to the island in three months. Russia has promised to send a second tanker. The Trump administration, which in early January threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, allowed the tanker to proceed.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he could do whatever he wants with Cuba and floated the idea of "taking" the island. "They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it's not going to matter," Trump said. He also called Cuba a failing nation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "Cubans can only be successful if they leave the country."