By MEG KINNARD and JOSH BOAK, Associated Press<\/p>\n
FORT MYERS (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> on Friday told a rally for candidates in southwest Florida that U.S. warships returning from the Middle East could stop over in Cuba<\/a> on their way back from the Iran war, his latest suggestion of taking an interventionist approach to the nearby country.<\/p>\n Trump first floated this idea earlier this year, but has not mentioned it in recent months. But he revived it in response to a shouted question from the crowd about the island nation. He was campaigning just days ahead of midterm elections in which voters have expressed concern about the impact the U.S. war on Iran has had on prices of goods from gas to groceries.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll do a little stopover,\u201d Trump said. \u201cActually, what we\u2019re going to do with Cuba is, we\u2019re going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We\u2019ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They\u2019ll raise up their hands. And then we\u2019re going to send (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Rubio and Trump have been bullish on action in Cuba, with Trump previously suggesting the country would \u201cbe next\u201d in terms of intervention abroad, following the winding down of the Iran war he has long forecast but which has not yet happened.<\/p>\n In May, he and Rubio raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that took on greater weight after the administration announced criminal charges<\/a> against the island\u2019s former leader, Ra\u00fal Castro. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba<\/a> for decades but that \u201cit looks like I\u2019ll be the one that does it.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump is intent on addressing it. While saying the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully<\/a>, Rubio voiced doubts that the U.S. could reach a diplomatic resolution with the island\u2019s current government.<\/p>\n Moments after Trump spoke at the rally, Rubio posted on social media that \u201cnow is the time\u201d for action on Cuba, addressing his post \u201cto those who seek to create positive change\u201d and urging them \u201cto seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubio has not addressed Cuba in depth in public for several weeks, with his last comments coming in a Sept. 29 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is Cuba has already fallen. It doesn\u2019t have a functional economy and it\u2019s governed by people who continue to preach about some revolution that has been dead for 20 years that\u2019s never worked,\u201d Rubio said, without alluding to any CIA operation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are hopeful that Cuba will choose a different path. We are hopeful \u2026 that there will be some people in there that open their eyes to the reality of what they\u2019re facing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re never going to allow Cuba to become a base of operation against American interests or pose a threat to our national security. On that we are abundantly clear.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubio and other top Trump aides have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the U.S. side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government.<\/p>\n During his address to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said Rubio \u2014 son of Cuban immigrants, who has long taken a hard line against Cuba\u2019s socialist leadership \u2014 was \u201cdeep into negotiations with Cuba,\u201d saying he would \u201cnot allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep.\u201d<\/p>\n Days later, Trump told reporters that he anticipated that the two countries \u201cwill make a deal,\u201d adding, \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this week, the two countries clashed<\/a> at the United Nations as the Trump administration sought once again to build opposition for an upcoming annual vote condemning Washington\u2019s decades-long economic embargo<\/a> against Havana.<\/p>\n Cuba has struggled since 2020 with an economic and energy crisis<\/a>. Its gross domestic product has shrunk<\/a>, and its 10 million residents have endured blackouts, food shortages and inflation<\/a>. There have been waves of protests, and hundreds of thousands of Cubans have migrated, many to the United States.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n