President Trump said Monday that he expects to have the “honor” of “taking Cuba,” days after the island’s communist government acknowledged it was in talks with the US.
Trump refused to say whether potential US intervention in Cuba would be more like Venezuela or Iran – while asserting he can do “anything I want with” the island, during remarks at the White House.
“I think Cuba’s seeing the end,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. “You know, all my life I’ve been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it?
“I do believe I’ll have the honor of taking Cuba … that’s a big honor.”
“Taking Cuba,” Trump elaborated. “I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.”
“They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
After Trump floated a “friendly takeover” last week, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed Friday that his government is in talks with the US.
Díaz-Canel described the talks as being aimed at “finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations.”
Trump cut off discounted Venezuelan oil shipments to the island after his Jan. 3 raid on Caracas that toppled Havana’s socialist ally, Nicolás Maduro.
The president also threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba.
The moves have created fuel shortages on the island that have caused widespread electricity blackouts.
Protesters denouncing communism have also taken the streets of Havana in recent days.
Several Cuba experts and Cuban American lawmakers believe the island’s communist government has never been in a weaker state.
“It’s a failed nation” Trump said of Cuba. “They have no money. They have no oil. They have no nothing. They have nice land.”
The president also praised the “very entrepreneurial people” he’s met from Cuba who have told him they would love the opportunity to reconnect with their homeland.
