USAupdated 39m ago2 min read
Donald Trump Says U.S. Ships Will Pass Cuba After Iran, With Marco Rubio Closing Deal
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US warships returning from Iran could stop over off Cuba while passing by. Marco Rubio would be sent to finish resolving Cuba's situation.
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Ships, Rubio, and Cuba
U.S. President Donald Trump told a rally in Florida that U.S. ships would “pass” by Cuba after the war in Iran and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would handle resolving the island’s situation.
Trump said the plan would involve “one of them stop about 50 yards (about 45 meters) from the coast,” before Rubio was sent “to close the deal.”
Trump framed the sequence as a short stop after Iran, saying “We will make a short stop, yes, a short stop,” and he added, “We don’t even have to stop; we just put him in there and he will resolve it.”
Trump’s remarks came as he campaigned in South Florida days ahead of midterm elections, and the rally included a shouted question from the crowd about Cuba.
Trump also praised Rubio as “a great guy” in the same Florida rally remarks.
Rubio urges CIA partnership
Marco Rubio urged people in Cuba seeking political change to seize what he called an opportunity, writing on X that “seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.”
Rubio’s post followed Trump’s Florida remarks about sending Rubio to “finish up the deal,” and the reporting described Rubio as handling much of the Cuba portfolio for Trump.
Rubio later told reporters that Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries, and he said the U.S. could not reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.
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.”
Trump also told reporters that he anticipated the two countries “will make a deal,” adding, “I don't think we'll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly.”
Pressure, sanctions, and risk
The Trump administration tightened economic pressure on Cuba through sanctions on companies linked to the island’s government and restrictions aimed at limiting its fuel imports, according to reporting that described the tension between Washington and Havana. The reporting also said Trump’s statements came as authorities announced an arrest warrant for former Cuban president Raúl Castro for the downing of the aircraft of the Brothers to the Rescue organization in 1996, when he was minister of the Armed Forces. Reuters reporting from Fort Myers described Trump’s Cuba remarks as part of a pattern of putting pressure on the communist government there after ousting the leader of Venezuela early this year.
Reuters also said Trump used the rally to vow to address his concerns about Cuba once the Iran war is settled, while the speech repeated that American naval forces from Iran would stop at Cuba on the way home. The same Reuters account said Trump’s rally was intended to boost the electoral prospects of Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds, who was running for governor against Democrat David Jolly.