Trump jokes that the US Navy will takeover Cuba 'almost immediately' on the way back from Iran
Facebook
Twitter
Flipboard
Send
Reddit
Linkedin
Messenger
Telegram
VK
Bluesky
Threads
Whatsapp
Trump appeared to hint at a potential military operation in Cuba after US forces “finish the job” in Iran. The comments come as Washington announced a set of new sanctions targeting the island nation on Friday, which Havana slammed as a form of collective punishment.
US President Donald Trump joked on Friday that his country’s Navy would take on Cuba on the way home from Iran.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
His comments came as he addressed attendees of an event at the non-profit Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, where he was invited as a keynote speaker.
Trump said that his military will be “taking over (Cuba) almost immediately,” raising concerns that the US may be entangled in yet another military conflict this year.
“Now Cuba's got problems. We'll finish one first. I like to finish a job. On the way back from what we'll do... on the way back from Iran, we'll have one of our big, maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier - the biggest in the world, will have that come in. Stop about 100 yards offshore, and they'll say, 'thank you very much. We give up',” added Trump.
Trump has suggested that military operations in Cuba are on the table for months as his administration continued to attack leadership in Havana following Washington’s stunning intervention in Venezuela in January, which toppled and captured President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump had accused Cuba of providing security personnel to protect Maduro’s alleged drug-trafficking operations in exchange for money and oil, both of which he had cut off following the 3 January operation.
The island nation has since been grappling with dire oil shortages which have shut down many sectors across the country and ground national healthcare services to a halt. The UN warned several times that a humanitarian crisis was unfolding in Cuba as a result of the US oil embargoes.
On Friday, Trump ordered new sanctions against Havana, targeting a broad set of people in the communist-run country and threatening foreign banks that work with them.
In an executive order, Trump said he would impose sanctions on people involved in sweeping sections of the Cuban economy, which is steered by the government.
Trump will target people known to "operate in or have operated in the energy, defence and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sector of the Cuban economy, or any other sector of the Cuban economy" as determined by the US government, the order said.
It also said it would target Cuban officials judged to have engaged in "serious human rights abuses" or corruption. The people listed will be unable to visit the United States, the order said.
The fresh sanctions were denounced by Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla, who called them a form of “collective punishment”.
“We firmly reject the recent unilateral coercive measures adopted by the United States government. These actions demonstrate an intention to impose, once again, collective punishment on the Cuban people,” wrote Parilla in a post on X.
“It is no coincidence that these measures were announced on May 1, the very day that millions of Cubans take to the streets to denounce the US blockade and the energy siege.”
Parilla also slammed the Trump administration for foreign meddling on claims of fighting injustices and protecting democracy, while repressing its own people domestically.
“While the US government represses its own people in the streets, it seeks to punish ours, who are heroically resisting the US imperialism’s attacks,” he wrote.
“These measures are extraterritorial in nature and violate the United Nations Charter. The US has no right whatsoever to impose measures against Cuba or against third countries or entities.”
The White House has called on Cuban leaders to engage in talks with Washington for months, warning that they must do so “before it is too late”.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has repeatedly rejected to negotiate under what he called hostile terms, arguing that Havana will only engage in talks based on common respect, equal footing and without threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Go to accessibility shortcuts Share Comments