President Donald Trump declared Saturday that Cuba is “in its last moments of life” as he spoke to Latin American leaders gathered at his golf club in Doral, Florida. The president made the remarks during an event the White House called the Shield of the Americas summit.
Trump turned to the topic of Cuba after discussing Venezuela, where U.S. forces conducted military strikes earlier this year that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to reports.
“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” Trump said.
Trump said the communist-run island nation is “very much at the end of the line.” He said the country has “no money,” “no oil,” “a bad philosophy,” and a “bad regime.”
The president previously floated the idea of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba during remarks last month. He also said earlier this week at the White House that Cuba could soon become the next major focus for Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump told the gathering Saturday that Cuba is already “negotiating” with Rubio. He said he believes a deal between the United States and Cuba could come together quickly. “Cuba’s in its last moments of life, as it was,” Trump said. “It’ll have a great new life, but it’s in its last moments of life the way it is.”
Trump then joked about Rubio’s workload as the United States continues military operations against Iran. “But our focus right now is on Iran,” Trump said. “And we’ll do that, I would say, what will you do, take about two days off, Marco?”
“No, he won’t. Maybe an hour. He’ll take one hour off, and then he’ll finish up a deal on Cuba. That’ll be an easy one.”
Trump added that broader regional changes could follow. “But it’ll be the, uh, entire region that we’re doing that,” he said.
Trump said this month that the United States is engaged in high-level discussions with Cuba and suggested the possibility of what he described as a “friendly takeover” of the communist run island.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House before departing for Texas, Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was leading conversations with Cuban officials, The Associated Press reported.
“The Cuban government is talking with us,” Trump said. “They have no money. They have nothing right now. But they’re talking to us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
He repeated the phrase moments later. “We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba,” the president said.
Trump did not clarify what he meant by “friendly takeover,” and the White House did not respond to requests for additional details.
The president described Cuba’s current condition in stark terms. “Cuba is, to put it mildly, a failed nation,” Trump said. “They want our help.”
His comments came two days after Cuba’s government reported that a Florida-registered speedboat carrying 10 armed Cubans from the United States opened fire on soldiers off the island’s north coast.
According to Havana, four of the armed Cubans were killed, and six were injured in return fire. One Cuban official was also wounded during the confrontation.
Cuban authorities confirmed earlier this week that they were communicating with U.S. officials following the shooting. Rubio has said the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating the incident.
Cuba has been central to Trump’s foreign policy rhetoric in recent weeks, particularly after U.S. forces ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Havana.
Following that operation, Trump suggested military action against Cuba might not be necessary, arguing that the island’s struggling economy could collapse without oil shipments from Venezuela.
“We’ve had a lot of years of dealing with Cuba. I’ve been hearing about Cuba since I’m a little boy. But they’re in big trouble,” Trump said.
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