Speaking at a rally for candidates in South Florida, Trump responded to a shouted question from the crowd by resurrecting an idea he first floated earlier this year. "We'll do a little stopover," Trump said. "Actually, what we're going to do with Cuba is, we're going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. 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."
Trump has previously suggested Cuba would "be next" for US intervention after the Iran war, which he has long forecast but which has not yet begun. In May, he and Rubio raised the specter of military intervention, a threat that gained weight after the administration announced criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro.
At the same rally, Trump noted that midterm voters have expressed concern about the impact of the Iran war on prices. Moments after the president spoke, Rubio posted on social media that "now is the time" for action on Cuba, addressing his post "to those who seek to create positive change" and urging them "to seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA."
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long taken a hard line against Cuba's leadership. In a Sept. 29 Fox News interview, he said: "The truth is Cuba has already fallen. It doesn't have a functional economy and it's governed by people who continue to preach about some revolution that has been dead for 20 years that's never worked." He added that while the administration wants a peaceful resolution, it cannot allow Cuba to become a base against US interests.
Despite some meetings between US and Cuban officials in recent months, the US side has come away unimpressed, leading to additional sanctions. At the United Nations last month, Trump said Rubio was "deep into negotiations with Cuba" and would "not allow a haven for foreign adversaries." Days later, he told reporters he expected a deal, adding, "I don't think we'll need the military."
Cuba has been grappling with a severe economic and energy crisis since 2020, with GDP contraction, blackouts, food shortages and inflation. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have migrated, many to the United States.