Trump, during a rally in Florida, revives the idea of ​​a military intervention in Cuba after Iran

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday at a gathering of candidates in South Florida that U.S. warships returning from the Middle East could stop at Cuba returning from the war in Iran, his latest suggestion to take an interventionist approach in the neighboring country.

Trump first floated the idea earlier this year, but hasn’t 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 before midterm elections in which voters have expressed concern about the impact of the U.S. war against Iran on prices of goods from gas to groceries.

“We’ll make a quick stopover,” Trump said. “Basically, what we’re going to do with Cuba is we’re going to come back from Iran. These beautiful ships will go through Cuba. We’ll have one stop about 50 yards from the coast. They’ll raise their hands. And then we’ll send (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio to seal the deal.”

Rubio and Trump have been optimistic about action in Cuba, with Trump previously suggesting the country would be “next” in terms of foreign intervention, following the end of the war in Iran that he had long predicted but 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 even more weight after the administration. criminal charges have been announced against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades, but “it seems like I’ll be the one to do it.”

Rubio separately told reporters that Cuba has posed a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump intends to address that. While asserting that the Trump administration wants peacefully resolve disputes with CubaRubio expressed doubts about the United States’ ability to reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.

Moments after Trump spoke at the rally, Rubio said on social media that “the time has come” for action against Cuba, addressing “those who seek to create positive change” and urging them “to seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discreet partnership with the CIA.”

Rubio has not addressed Cuba in depth in public for several weeks, with his latest comments coming in a September 29 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“The truth is that Cuba has already fallen. It has no functioning economy and it is governed by people who continue to preach a revolution that has been dead for 20 years and has never worked,” Rubio said, without referring to any CIA operation.

“We hope that Cuba will choose a different path. We hope … that there will be people there who will open their eyes to the reality that they are facing,” he said. “We will never allow Cuba to become a base of operations against U.S. interests or pose a threat to our national security. We are perfectly clear on this point.”

Rubio and other top Trump aides have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the American side was not impressed by these negotiations, which led to the imposition of even more sanctions against the Cuban government.

During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said Rubio – the son of Cuban immigrants, who has long taken a hard line against Cuba’s socialist leaders – was “deeply committed to negotiations with Cuba,” saying he “would not allow foreign adversaries to threaten America on our doorstep.”

Days later, Trump told reporters that he anticipated the two countries would “make a deal,” adding, “I don’t think we’re going to need the military.” Cuba is failing very badly. »

Earlier this week, the two countries clashed at the United Nations as the Trump administration once again sought to drum up opposition ahead of the upcoming annual vote condemning the economic embargo imposed by Washington for decades against Havana.

Since 2020, Cuba has been grappling with a economic and energy crisis. Its gross domestic product shrankand its 10 million inhabitants suffered power cuts, food shortage and inflation. There were waves of protests and hundreds of thousands of Cubans emigrated, many to the United States.

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Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina, and can be contacted at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.