President Donald Trump has suggested the United States could occupy Cuba on friendly terms.
The statement was issued Friday as President Trump prepared to board the presidential helicopter, Marine One, on the White House lawn en route to Texas.
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As he approached the media scrum, President Trump asked questions about the United States’ tense relations with countries such as Iran and Cuba, in which he suggested he wanted to form new governments.
In the case of Cuba, President Trump suggested a transition that would be “very positive for the people who were expelled, or worse.”
“The Cuban government is talking to us, and you know, they’re in a lot of trouble. They don’t have any money. They don’t have anything right now, but they’re talking to us,” Trump told reporters.
“And maybe we’ll end up with a friendly takeover of Cuba. There’s a good chance we’ll end up with a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
President Trump has spent the past two months using economic and diplomatic pressure to push for regime change on the communist-led Caribbean island.
In his remarks Friday, President Trump reiterated his position that Cuba is a “failed state” on the brink of collapse.
“I’ve been hearing about Cuba since I was a little kid, and we all want change, and I can see it happening,” Trump said.
He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American known for his hawkish stance, is leading the effort.
“Marco Rubio is addressing this issue at a very high level. You know, they don’t have money. They don’t have oil. They don’t have food. And right now this country is in deep trouble. And they need our help.”
Increased pressure on Cuba
The United States has long had tense relations with Cuba, which is just 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the coast. Since the 1960s, the United States has imposed a total trade embargo on the island, weakening its economy.
But tensions have escalated since January 3, when President Trump authorized a military operation to abduct and imprison President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, a close ally of Cuba.
An estimated 32 Cuban soldiers were killed in the attack, along with Venezuelan military personnel.
In the aftermath, President Trump ratcheted up pressure on the island, publicly speculating that the country’s government was “prepared to collapse.”
On January 11, he announced that no more Venezuelan oil or money would flow into Cuba. On January 29, he issued an executive order threatening to impose tariffs on countries that directly or indirectly supply oil to the island.
Cuba’s energy grid relies heavily on fossil fuels for power generation, and the United Nations has warned that the island’s humanitarian “collapse” could be imminent if supplies are not restored.
A U.N. panel of human rights experts this month also questioned Trump’s stated rationale that Cuba poses an “extraordinary and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security because of its ties to China, Russia and other U.S. rivals.
They explained that the fuel blockade primarily served as an “extreme form of unilateral economic coercion” in violation of international law.
“Under international law, there is no right to impose economic sanctions on third countries that engage in lawful trade with other sovereign countries,” they said in a statement.
President Trump’s “growth nation” vision
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its desire to expand U.S. influence, particularly in the Western Hemisphere.
In his 2025 inaugural address, President Trump vowed that the United States would “reimagine itself as a growing nation” through territorial expansion and other efforts.
Since giving that speech, President Trump has “owned” Gaza and “administered” Venezuela, while pressuring countries such as Greenland, Canada and Panama to cede sovereignty over the land.
He has repeatedly cited 19th century expansionist policies such as Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine to justify some of these efforts. He even married his personal brand to Donroe, calling his plan for the Western Hemisphere the “Donroe Doctrine.”
In his State of the Union address this week, he touted the military operation in Venezuela as a success and announced that more than 80 million barrels of Venezuelan oil had been transferred to U.S. government property.
“We are also restoring America’s security and primacy in the Western Hemisphere,” Trump told the audience.
But Cuba’s government has repeatedly denounced President Trump’s campaign against the island as evidence of U.S. imperialism.
For example, on January 30, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused President Trump of trying to “strangle Cuba’s economy” with a fuel blockade.
“This new measure reveals the fascist, criminal, and genocidal nature of a cabal that has usurped the interests of the American people for purely personal gain,” he said on social media.
Just this week, the Díaz-Canel administration announced a deadly gunfight near the shore with a Florida tagged speedboat.
The US government denies responsibility. But Cuba said the ship was part of a “terrorist infiltration.”
Is it deregulation?
Already, there are signs that the United States may seek to ease some of the pressure on Cuba while maintaining its staunch opposition to the country’s communist government.
In early February, the Trump administration announced $6 million in humanitarian aid to the island, saying it would be distributed through proxies such as the Catholic Church rather than local governments.
And on Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department said it would prohibit any transactions with the Cuban government, military or intelligence agencies, and would “implement favorable licensing policies” for the resale of Venezuelan oil to Cuba.
Critics say Cuba’s humanitarian crisis could influence President Trump, who has vowed to crack down on immigration and cut government spending.
Cuba has seen several waves of migration to the United States, most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic when nearly 2 million people fled the country due to economic instability and political repression.
Meanwhile, Diaz-Canel reiterated Friday that the government will protect itself from any external threats.
“Cuba will defend itself with determination and resoluteness against any terrorist or mercenary aggression that seeks to undermine its sovereignty and national stability.”
