Rubio calls for action while doubting a diplomatic resolution with Cuba
President Donald Trump told a rally for candidates in Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday that one U.S. warship returning from the Middle East could stop about 50 yards off Cuba’s coast on its way back from the Iran war and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could then go to Cuba to finish a deal. Trump revived the proposal in response to a shouted question from the crowd about the island nation. He was campaigning days ahead of the midterm elections, in which voters had expressed concern about how the U.S. war on Iran had affected prices for gas and groceries.
“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.”
Moments after Trump 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,” he urged them “to seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.” Rubio had not addressed Cuba in depth in public for several weeks; his previous comments came in a Sept. 29 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
In that interview, Rubio 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,” without alluding to any CIA operation. He also said, “We are hopeful that Cuba will choose a different path. We are hopeful … that there will be some people in there that open their eyes to the reality of what they’re facing.” Rubio added: “We’re never going to allow Cuba to become a base of operation against American interests or pose a threat to our national security. On that we are abundantly clear.”
Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba had been a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump was intent on addressing it. While saying the Trump administration wanted to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully, Rubio voiced doubts that the United States could reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.
The proposal had surfaced before. Trump first floated the idea earlier this year and had not mentioned it in recent months before he revived it Friday. The Associated Press reported that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had both favored action in Cuba, and that Trump had previously suggested the island country would “be next” in terms of intervention abroad, following the winding down of the Iran war he had long forecast but which had not yet happened.
In May, Trump and Rubio raised the prospect of U.S. military intervention. The Associated Press reported that this renewed prospect took on greater weight after the Trump administration announced criminal charges against Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former leader. 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.”
Rubio and other top Trump aides had met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. The Associated Press reported that the U.S. side came away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions being imposed on the Cuban government.
Earlier this week, the United States and Cuba clashed at the United Nations as the Trump administration sought once again to build opposition for an upcoming annual vote condemning Washington’s decades-long economic embargo against Havana. During his address to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, was “deep into negotiations with Cuba.” Trump said he would “not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep.”
Days later, Trump 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.”
Cuba has struggled since 2020 with an economic and energy crisis. Its gross domestic product has shrunk, and its 10 million residents have endured blackouts, food shortages and inflation. There have been waves of protests, and hundreds of thousands of Cubans have migrated, many to the United States.
AP’s Meg Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C., and AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.