President Donald Trump will unveil a new Cuba policy on Friday that will both seek to empower the Cuban people and severely limit travel to the communist nation, according to senior White House officials. Officials offered few insights about policy specifics, saying: "This is really the president's policy to announce." While Americans will still be able to go to Cuba through one of the authorized types of travel, one common method of visiting the island will be prohibited. Tourism is technically banned under the embargo, but under the Obama administration, relaxed regulations allowed Americans to visit Cuba under people-to-people travel. The new policy will restrict this kind of travel for individuals. Americans pursuing this type of travel would have to go in groups, the official said.

Cuban and US flags are seen on balconies in Havana Yamil Lage | AFP | Getty Images

While the policy goes into effect when the president announces it on Friday, officials said that nothing will be implemented until new regulations are in place. People with imminent plans to travel to Cuba may continue to do so under existing law until then. The policy will direct related departments to start working on these rules within 30 days, but one official said, however, that once the legislating process begins, the process will "take as long as it takes." Meanwhile, there will be no changes to "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which allows Cubans who arrive in the U.S. without visas to stay, an official said. The official said that there also won't be any changes to regulations on what Americans can bring back from Cuba.

Human rights concerns a key factor