President Donald Trump (Getty)
President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States will “take care of Cuba” after its military operation against Iran ends.
Trump was at a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, that aired live on the free Newsmax2 streaming platform. He was touting the U.S. military’s success in Venezuela and Iran when an audience member shouted, “What about Cuba?”
“Cuba. He wants to know what about Cuba. Give me a break. Give me a break,” Trump said, chuckling. “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of Cuba on our way back from Iran.
“We’ll do a little stopover.”
Trump then offered a lighthearted scenario in which a U.S. warship would approach the Cuban coast and the country’s leaders would surrender before Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived.
“Actually, what we’re going to do with Cuba is we’re going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We’ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast.”
“They’ll raise up their hands, and then we’re going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up.” Trump said to applause. “We don’t even have to stop.
“We can just put him in there, and he’ll figure it out. He is a great guy.”
About an hour after Trump’s remarks, Rubio posted a message on X encouraging Cubans dissatisfied with their communist government to cooperate with the CIA.
“To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba — now is the time,” wrote Rubio, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1956. “The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.”
In the past year, the Trump administration has continued to ramp up diplomatic pressure against Cuba.
In January, Trump signed an executive order authorizing tariffs against countries that sell oil to Cuba. The U.S. military followed by deploying naval forces to block oil tankers heading to the island nation.
The Department of Justice has secured criminal indictments against former Cuban leaders, including former President Raul Castro.
The State and Treasury departments have announced multiple rounds of economic sanctions targeting Cuban officials, state-run enterprises, and state-linked financial networks.
“We reject all threats regarding U.S. ambitions toward Cuba,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla wrote in a translated post on X in response to Trump and Rubio. “On our shores, there are beautiful beaches, but also dogtooth, inhospitable to those who arrive with hostile intentions and desires for domination.”
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