About 11 million people on the island nation of Cuba have lost power after the country’s electrical grid completely collapsed on Monday.

Cuba relies on oil to run the power grid, and a U.S. embargo has worsened the energy crisis it was already suffering under. The U.S. ended oil deliveries to Cuba from Venezuela and threatened other countries with steep tariffs if they provided oil to the nation.

‘Taking Cuba in some form, yeah, taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.’

The state-owned power operator said efforts were under way to restore power to the island. In the meantime, energy has been rationed and many services have shut down.

“The impact [of the blockade] is tremendous. It is most brutally manifested in these energy issues,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on Friday. “This causes anguish among the population.”

Díaz-Canel said Cuba had not received oil in about three months.

“Officials in the U.S. [government] must be feeling very happy by the harm caused to every Cuban family,” said Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío in a statement about the blackout.

Electricity generation is plagued by aged power infrastructure and a lack of spare parts that are also blocked by the embargo.

President Donald Trump said he had designs for a takeover of the island.

“I do believe I’ll be … having the honor of taking Cuba. That’s a big honor,” the president said to reporters at the White House. “Taking Cuba in some form, yeah, taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth.”

RELATED: Massive blackout hits Cuba after entire power grid fails; communist government blames the US

He added, “They’re a very weakened nation right now. They were for a long time. Very violent leaders.”

Protesters have also risen up against the communist government in anger over the blackouts and a shortage of food.

Díaz-Canel said he’s having talks with Trump in order to find “areas of cooperation.” Some anticipate there will be a deal soon to allow some private businesses to operate on the communist island.

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With tensions rising in the Middle East and concerns growing over oil supply, many Americans are wondering what the latest developments mean for the economy — and financial expert Carol Roth may have some answers.

“It’s difficult to have mobility in this economy right now, and it’s, you know, sort of a tough thing for everyday people to deal with,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere tells Roth, noting that recent developments in Iran are affecting not only the price of gas, but food prices.

“How should we be thinking of this right now, Carol?” Stu asks.

“So, I think that we should be thinking that we hope that there is a short end to this conflict both from a moral and human perspective as well as from an economic perspective,” Roth explains.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty. There’s a lot of risk, and we don’t know what the duration is going to be. And so as that information comes out and then gets, you know, kind of extrapolated and increased by algorithmic trading and hedge funds, you see a lot of volatility, but we’ve seen that somewhat normalized,” she says.

“The challenge is that, you know, a lot of the tampering of inflation … had a lot to do with the fact that oil had been in a very good and attractive place, particularly for consumers. Maybe not as much for producers, but at least for consumers,” she continues.

Roth believes that in order to combat these issues for everyday Americans, the Trump administration needs to focus on things like small businesses.

“I’d like to see more policies that remove barriers. If you remove barriers, particularly from small businesses, they are the biggest job creators and drivers. They’re also, by the way, the ones who are going to be least susceptible to AI changes,” Roth tells Stu.

“And so, that would be a really good and easy thing to do,” she adds.

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu’s lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is facing contempt of court charges after it refused to release a violent criminal with 35 arrests.

Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Eric Goodman said that 36-year-old Joshua Sanchez-Lopez should be released and placed on electric monitoring, but police say he’s too much of a risk.

‘The idea that a Metro employee can overrule a judge’s release order and keep someone locked up should worry anyone who believes in the Constitution and the rule of law.’

Sanchez-Lopez has previous convictions that include involuntary manslaughter and drug charges and was arrested in January on a charge of grand larceny of a motor vehicle. Goodman said he could be released from jail and monitored if he posted bail.

Metro police told the judge on Jan. 29 they would not release Sanchez-Lopez, in defiance of his order.

The letter cited previous incidents where Sanchez-Lopez failed to appear in court and violated the department’s program. In one instance, he mocked police after posting a photo of his ankle monitor on Snapchat.

On Feb. 5, Goodman responded and threatened to hold the cops in contempt of court.

Metro argues that the decision to keep Sanchez-Lopez is granted to the sheriff by state law.

The suspect’s public defender disagreed.

“Metro’s argument is flat wrong,” reads a statement from public defender P. David Westbrook.

“It is the job of the elected judge to decide whether someone charged with a crime should be released and under what conditions,” he added. “The idea that a Metro employee can overrule a judge’s release order and keep someone locked up should worry anyone who believes in the Constitution and the rule of law.”

Metro assistant general counsel Mike Dickerson said they’re trying to preserve public safety.

“We have to take a look at that and say, ‘Is this somebody who our electronic supervision program can monitor safely in the community?'” Dickerson said.

“There’s absolutely competing narratives about public safety occurring in our community. There’s different approaches too,” he added.

RELATED: Former DHS attorney who told judge ‘this job sucks’ is now running to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar

In a statement on social media, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo of Nevada said he backed the police.

“Sheriff McMahill and the men and women of Metro are doing exactly what they’re sworn to do: protect the public,” he wrote. “When repeat violent offenders are ordered back onto our streets, law enforcement has a duty to speak up and push back. I fully support LVMPD’s decision to take this issue to the Nevada Supreme Court and fight for public safety. I stand with law enforcement.”

Goodman also pointed out that the level of electronic monitoring ordered for Sanchez-Lopez was similar to house arrest.

“The safety of our officers is paramount,” Dickerson continued. “The safety of the public is key, and the key here is Sheriff McMahill will not violate the law to appease the Las Vegas Justice Court and let out people who he deems to be dangerous. We have a system that’s set up so people can get out of jail quickly, and sometimes, there just needs to be a little bit more thought given to it because lives are on the line.”

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