Trump: Cuba to blame in invisible attacks

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that he believes Cuba is responsible for unexplained, invisible attacks in Cuba that have harmed American government workers.

Though Trump’s comments appeared to be a new allegation, it wasn’t clear whether he meant Cuba was behind the attacks or merely shared the onus because it failed to keep Americans safe on its soil. The United States has avoided casting blame on Cuban President Raul Castro’s government for the attacks that began last year and have eluded an FBI investigation.

“I do believe Cuba’s responsible. I do believe that,” Trump said in a Rose Garden news conference.

But in a cable sent Monday to all overseas U.S. diplomatic posts, the State Department said it has “not assigned blame to the Government of Cuba.”

“We are still investigating these attacks and do not know who or what is behind them. We continue to exchange information with Cuban investigators,” said the diplomatic cable. Marked “sensitive,” the cable laid out the rationale for the steps the U.S. has taken in response to the attacks, including pulling more than half its diplomats from Cuba and kicking out 15 Cuban diplomats in the U.S.

There was no reaction from the Cuban Embassy in Washington to Trump’s remark. Castro’s government has repeatedly denied both involvement in and knowledge of the attacks.