President Donald Trump has suggested the United States could take over Cuba, but on amicable terms.<\/p>\n
The statement on Friday came as Trump was preparing to board his presidential helicopter, Marine One, on the White House lawn en route to Texas.<\/p>\n
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Approaching the media scrum, Trump took questions about the tense relations the US has with countries like Iran and Cuba, two countries where he has suggested he would like to see new governments.<\/p>\n
In Cuba\u2019s case, Trump suggested a transition that would be \u201cvery positive for the people who were expelled or worse\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cuban government is talking with us, and they\u2019re in a big deal of trouble, as you know. They have no money. They have no anything right now, but they\u2019re talking with us,\u201d Trump told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd maybe we\u2019ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has been pushing for regime change on the communist-led Caribbean island over the last two months, using economic and diplomatic pressure.<\/p>\n
In Friday\u2019s remarks, Trump reiterated his stance that Cuba is \u201ca failing nation\u201d teetering on collapse.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I\u2019m a little boy, I\u2019ve been hearing about Cuba, and everybody wanted to change, and I can see that happening,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American known for his hawkish stance, is leading the initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarco Rubio is dealing on it and at a very high level, and you know, they have no money. They have no oil, they have no food,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt\u2019s really right now a nation in deep trouble. And they want our help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Increasing pressure on Cuba<\/p>\n
The US has long had strained relations with Cuba, an island just 145 kilometres, or 90 miles, from its shores. Since the 1960s, the US has imposed a full trade embargo on the island, weakening its economy.<\/p>\n
But tensions have accelerated since January 3, when Trump authorised a military operation to abduct and imprison Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close ally of Cuba.<\/p>\n
An estimated 32 Cuban soldiers were killed in the attack, alongside Venezuelan military personnel.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath, Trump ratcheted up pressure against the island, publicly speculating that its government is \u201cready to fall\u201d.<\/p>\n
On January 11, he announced<\/a> that no more Venezuelan oil or money would flow to Cuba. Then, on January 29, he issued an executive order<\/a> threatening tariffs on any country that supplies oil directly or indirectly to the island.<\/p>\n Cuba\u2019s energy grid largely relies on fossil fuels to generate electricity, and the United Nations has warned of the potential for an imminent humanitarian \u201ccollapse\u201d on the island if supplies are not restored.<\/p>\n A panel of UN human rights experts also cast doubt this month on Trump\u2019s stated rationale that Cuba constitutes an \u201cunusual and extraordinary threat\u201d to US national security, due to its relations with China, Russia and other US rivals.<\/p>\n The fuel blockade, they explained, served primarily as \u201can extreme form of unilateral economic coercion\u201d that violated international law.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no right under international law to impose economic penalties on third States for engaging in lawful trade with another sovereign country,\u201d they wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s vision for a \u2018growing nation\u2019<\/p>\n The Trump administration, however, has made little secret of its desire to spread US influence, particularly in the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n In his inaugural speech in 2025, Trump pledged that the US \u201cwill once again consider itself a growing nation\u201d, including through the expansion of its territory.<\/p>\n Since delivering that address, Trump has proposed to \u201cown\u201d Gaza<\/a> and \u201crun\u201d Venezuela<\/a>, while pressuring countries like Greenland, Canada and Panama to cede sovereignty over their lands.<\/p>\n He has repeatedly referenced 19th-century expansionist policies like manifest destiny and the Monroe Doctrine to justify some of these efforts. He even married his personal brand to the latter, calling his plans for the Western Hemisphere the \u201cDonroe Doctrine\u201d.<\/p>\n During his State of the Union address this week, he touted his military action in Venezuela as a success and announced that more than 80 million barrels of Venezuelan oil had been transferred into the US government\u2019s possession.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re also restoring American security and dominance in the Western Hemisphere,\u201d Trump told the crowd.<\/p>\n The Cuban government, however, has repeatedly denounced Trump\u2019s campaign against the island as evidence of US imperialism.<\/p>\n On January 30, for instance, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel accused Trump of attempting \u201cto strangle the Cuban economy\u201d with the fuel blockade.<\/p>\n \u201cThis new measure reveals the fascist, criminal, and genocidal nature of a cabal that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal gain,\u201d he wrote<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n