Trump at South Florida rally revives the idea of military intervention
in Cuba after Iran
[October 24, 2026]
By MEG KINNARD and JOSH BOAK
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday told a rally
for candidates in South Florida that U.S. warships returning from the
Middle East could stop over in Cuba on their way back from the Iran war,
his latest suggestion of taking an interventionist approach to the
nearby country.
Trump first floated this idea earlier this year, but has not 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
ahead of midterm elections in which voters have expressed concern about
the impact the U.S. war on Iran has had on prices of goods from gas to
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.”
Both Rubio and Trump have been bullish on action in Cuba, with Trump
previously suggesting the country would "be next” in terms of
intervention abroad, following the winding down of the Iran war he has
long forecast but which 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 greater weight after the
administration announced criminal charges 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 that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”
Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has been a national security
threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump
is intent on addressing it. While saying the Trump administration wants
to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully, Rubio voiced doubts that
the U.S. could reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current
government.
Moments after Trump spoke at the rally, 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 has not addressed Cuba in depth in public for several weeks, with
his last comments coming in a Sept. 29 interview with Fox News host Sean
Hannity.
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President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Friday, Oct.
23, 2026, at Alico Arena on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast
University in Fort Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
“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,” Rubio said, without alluding to any CIA operation.
“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,” he said. “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 and other top Trump aides have met with Cuban officials in
recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the
U.S. side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to
even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government.
During his address to the United Nations General Assembly last
month, Trump said Rubio — son of Cuban immigrants, who has long
taken a hard line against Cuba’s socialist leadership — was “deep
into negotiations with Cuba,” saying he would “not allow a haven for
foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep.”
Days later, Trump told reporters that he anticipated that the two
countries “will make a deal,” adding, “I don’t think we’ll need the
military. Cuba is failing very badly.”
Earlier this week, the two countries 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.
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.
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