President Donald Trump said on Friday at a South Florida rally that U.S. warships returning from the Iran war could stop off Cuba, according to ABC News US. The remarks revived his interventionist suggestions about the island days before the U.S. midterm elections.
Trump told a rally for candidates that U.S. warships returning from the Middle East could stop over in Cuba on their way back from the Iran war, according to ABC News US. He said one ship would stop about 50 yards off the Cuban coast, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would then be sent in to "finish up the deal," the outlet reported.
Trump first floated the idea earlier this year and had not mentioned it in recent months, according to ABC News US. He revived it after a shouted question from the crowd about the island.
Moments after the speech, Rubio posted on social media that "now is the time" for action on Cuba. He urged people to create change through a "discrete partnership with the CIA," according to ABC News US.
The military option is not new. In May, Trump and Rubio raised the prospect of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a threat that gained weight after the administration announced criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, according to ABC News US. The source does not detail what the Castro charges allege or what their status is.
Trump took a different tone in late September. He said then that he anticipated the two countries "will make a deal" and added, "I don’t think we’ll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly," according to ABC News US.
Rubio and other senior Trump aides met Cuban officials in recent months to explore better relations, according to the same report. The U.S. side was unimpressed, which led to more sanctions on the Cuban government.
Cuba has struggled since 2020 with an economic and energy crisis, a shrinking gross domestic product, blackouts, food shortages and inflation, according to ABC News US. The outlet also reports that voters have cited the Iran war’s impact on prices.
The key facts in this story rely on a single outlet. No second news organization has confirmed the rally remarks or Rubio’s post. The report also includes no response from the Cuban government, the White House or the State Department to the proposal. It does not say whether the Iran war is ongoing or when it might end. Trump’s forecast that the war would wind down has not yet happened, according to the source.
Rubio’s CIA-partnership post and a pending United Nations General Assembly vote on the U.S. embargo against Cuba are the next signals to watch, according to the report. ABC News US gives no scheduled military action.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.