Donald Trump Could Reverse Obama’s Cuba Policy ‘Fairly Quickly

President Obama has said he worked to make the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba “irreversible,” but the policies he has put in place to thaw the more than 50-year standoff between the two countries could be easily undone by the incoming administration, experts say.

Everything Obama did to open Cuba could be revoked because it was all done through executive action and regulatory changes, the latter of which were more formal but can be reversed.

“Obama’s regulatory changes could be reversed fairly quickly. Trump could order it on day one but it would take the Treasury Department a few weeks to rewrite the regulations,” William LeoGrande, professor of government at American University and co-author of “Back Channel to Cuba,” told ABC News.

During the campaign, Trump said he planned to roll back Obama’s executive actions, which include lifting restrictions on cigars and rum imports.

“But all of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Miami on Sept. 16. “Not my demands, our demands. You know what the demands are. Those demands will include religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners.”

Because everything Obama did to open Cuba was done through executive action and regulatory changes, it could be reversed if Trump wanted to.

Regulatory changes include changes to policies within the Departments of Transportation, Treasury and Commerce. Direct commercial flights between the two countries were worked out by the Department of Transportation. Meanwhile, the Department of Treasury has eased the restrictions on travel to Cuba, allowing a “people-to-people” exchange for educational purposes.

To reverse those would require regulatory changes, which are more tedious to undo, but could be rescinded.

However, given the amount of businesses working within the new framework to open up flights and offer services, others are not as sure it will be an easy reversal.

“The regulations have been properly promulgated by OFAC, a federal agency under the Treasury Department, and by the Department of Commerce. They were not implemented simply by White House fiat,” Scott Gilbert, a legal and Cuba relations expert said.

“They cannot be erased easily,” Gilbert added. “In addition, many U.S. businesses have invested millions of dollars in Cuba-related ventures, resulting in many contracts and other commitments that are entirely legal under existing U.S. law and regulations. These businesses rely upon and are entitled to due process.”