President Donald Trump told a rally in South Florida on Friday that U.S. warships returning from the Iran war could stop over in Cuba on the way home. It is his latest hint at an interventionist approach to the island nation 1.
Trump first floated the idea earlier this year but had not mentioned it in recent months. He brought it up again after someone in the crowd shouted a question about Cuba 1.
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.
Moments after Trump spoke, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media that the time had come for action on Cuba. He urged people to seize the opportunity to create the change they desire through a discreet partnership with the CIA (the Central Intelligence Agency) 1.
Mixed signals on force
The Associated Press (AP) reports that Trump has said Cuba would "be next" after the Iran war, which he has long said is winding down. It has not yet wound down 1.
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In May, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that previous presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that "it looks like I'll be the one that does it." That came after the administration announced criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro 1.
Euronews reported that federal prosecutors made public on May 20 an indictment alleging Castro ordered the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. The charges include murder and destruction of an aircraft. Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, called the case a political maneuver 2.
Trump has also sent a softer message. Days after his United Nations speech last month, he said he expected the two countries "will make a deal." He added, "I don't think we'll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly" 1.
Rubio said on Sept. 29 that the U.S. would never allow Cuba to become a base of operation against American interests. He said then that he was hopeful Cuba would choose a different path 1.
Talks between U.S. and Cuban officials have gone nowhere. AP reports the American side came away unimpressed, and more sanctions followed. This week the two countries clashed at the U.N. as Washington tried to build opposition to an annual vote condemning its decades-long embargo of Cuba 1.
What happens next and why it matters
No military order has been announced. Nothing in the AP report says ships have been told to change course. The next step to watch is the U.N. vote on the embargo and whether Rubio's CIA message draws any response from Havana 1.
Trump spoke days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. AP notes that voters have voiced concern about how the Iran war has affected prices, from gas to groceries 1.
That matters because talk of a second military operation comes while the first is unfinished. Cuba has also been in crisis since 2020. Its 10 million residents have endured blackouts, food shortages and inflation, and hundreds of thousands have left 1. Euronews reported that an energy blockade after the January capture of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro has deepened that collapse 2.
Democratic reaction to Friday's remarks was not part of the reports available to us. Congress has not voted on any use of force against Cuba, according to nothing in either source. We will update this story as it develops.
The Record
- Federal prosecutors made public an indictment of Raúl Castro over the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes 2.
- Rubio told Fox News that Cuba would never be allowed to become a base of operation against American interests 1.
- At a South Florida rally, Trump said warships returning from the Iran war could stop about 50 yards off Cuba's coast 1.
Sources
- PBS NewsHour (AP), “WATCH: Trump at GOP rally in Florida revives idea of military intervention in Cuba after Iran” (2026-10-23). pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-at-gop-rally-in-florid
- Euronews, “Rubio duda de la diplomacia con Cuba mientras Trump eleva la amenaza militar” (2026-05-22). es.euronews.com/2026/05/22/rubio-duda-de-la-diplomacia-con-c
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