U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on November 9, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Mandel Gunn | AFP | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has said he wants to “end Cuba” before he leaves office in 2029, adding that he would “certainly consider” military intervention on the communist-ruled Caribbean island.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, President Trump said his administration was monitoring the situation in Havana “very closely” and described Cuba as a “failed” nation.
“I want to end Cuba before I leave,” Trump said. His comments are the first time he has laid out a timeline for possible military intervention to overthrow Cuban authorities, according to Politico.
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents are Cuban, “would love to do that,” and that he would “certainly consider” a short-term military operation.
The move comes as the United States continues to impose a comprehensive economic embargo on Cuba, a policy that is contributing to Cuba’s deepening energy and economic crisis. Cuba has suffered fuel and food shortages in recent months due to repeated power outages across the country.
The Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., estimated Thursday that the cost of the U.S. blockade of Cuba from March 2025 to February 2026 will reach $8 billion.
Earlier this month, the Treasury Department imposed further sanctions on Cuban oil tankers and shipping companies and threatened to target international organizations and individuals doing business on its oceans or within the maritime industry as part of efforts to “end the Cuban regime’s malign activities both in Cuba and in the hemisphere.”
A tanker truck travels on the streets of Matanzas, Cuba, on March 30, 2026.
Stringer | AFP | Getty Images
In response, the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., said these measures “further deepen the energy siege, with hospitals already without reliable power and families facing power outages. The lockdown is not targeted at the government; it is a collective punishment that hits ordinary people every day.”
President Trump has previously talked about the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of Havana and said the White House could turn to Cuba after the Iran war. The US president also said he could do anything he wanted with the country, adding that he would have the “honor” of “occupying Cuba.”
In May, Cuba’s Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levi said the country of about 10 million people was running out of fuel oil and diesel, calling the country’s plight “extremely tense.”
Analysts are generally skeptical about the prospects for a U.S. military operation against Cuba, suggesting further economic pressure on the island’s authorities is likely.
