Trump issues NSPM-5, rolling back Obama Cuba normalization policy

President Donald Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 on June 16, 2017, in a Miami speech to Cuban-American supporters, directing agencies to tighten restrictions on travel to Cuba and financial dealings with Cuban military-linked entities. NSPM-5 instructed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to publish a Cuba Restricted List of entities controlled by Cuban military, intelligence, or security services, barring Americans from direct financial transactions with those entities. The memorandum tightened individual educational travel to Cuba to supervised group settings only and broadened the definition of prohibited Cuban government officials. New regulations from Treasury, Commerce, and State took effect November 9, 2017.