President Donald Trump on Friday told a rally for candidates in South Florida that US warships returning from the Middle East could stop over in Cuba on their way back from the Iran war, his latest suggestion of taking an interventionist approach to the nearby country.
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.
"We'll do a little stopover," Trump said. "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 (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal."
Both Rubio and Trump have been bullish on action in Cuba, with Trump previously suggesting the country would "be next" in terms of intervention abroad, following the winding down of the Iran war he has long forecast but which has not yet happened.
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 against the island's former leader, Raul Castro. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that "it looks like I'll be the one that does it."
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, Rubio voiced doubts that the U.S. could reach a diplomatic resolution with the island's current government.
Moments after Trump spoke at the rally, Rubio posted on social media that "now is the time" for action on Cuba, addressing his post "to those who seek to create positive change" and urging them "to seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA."
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.
"The truth is Cuba has already fallen. It doesn't have a functional economy and it's governed by people who continue to preach about some revolution that has been dead for 20 years that's never worked," Rubio said, without alluding to any CIA operation.
"We are hopeful that Cuba will choose a different path. We are hopeful ... that there will be some people in there that open their eyes to the reality of what they're facing," he said. "We're 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."
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.
During his address to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said Rubio - son of Cuban immigrants, who has long taken a hard line against Cuba's socialist leadership - was "deep into negotiations with Cuba," saying he would "not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep."
Days later, Trump told reporters that he anticipated that the two countries "will make a deal," adding, "I don't think we'll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly."
Earlier this week, the two countries clashed at the United Nations as the Trump administration sought once again to build opposition for an upcoming annual vote condemning Washington's decades-long economic embargo against Havana.
Cuba has struggled since 2020 with an economic and energy crisis. Its gross domestic product has shrunk, and its 10 million residents have endured blackouts, food shortages and inflation. There have been waves of protests, and hundreds of thousands of Cubans have migrated, many to the United States.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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