Trump Says US ‘Will Be Taking Over Cuba Almost Immediately,’ Citing Aircraft Carrier Threat

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump has declared that the United States will take control of Cuba “almost immediately,” describing a naval deployment that he claims will force the island nation’s surrender without a shot being fired.

Emboldened by the gains of the war in Iran and the recent U.S. Navy operation that arrested Venezuela’s Nicholás Maduro, the president told an audience in Florida that Cuba is the next target in his second-term campaign to reshape the Western Hemisphere.

“Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately. On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big — maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, the biggest in the world — we’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, we give up.'”
— President Donald J. Trump

The speech signals a dramatic and potentially illegal expansion of U.S. military ambitions in the region, even as the U.S. remains entangled in a fragile ceasefire with Iran and continues to maintain a naval blockade in the Persian Gulf .

🚢 The ‘Lincoln’ Leverage

The USS Abraham Lincoln is one of the Navy’s most capable carriers . However, the ship is currently deployed in the Middle East, where it has been enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports and conducting air operations against Iranian-backed Houthi targets in Yemen .

Repositioning America’s largest warship from the Persian Gulf to the Caribbean would be a massive logistical undertaking, shifting military focus from the Middle East to the Western Hemisphere.

The president’s boast that Cuba “will give up” echoes the rationale he used to justify the January mission that captured Venezuelan strongman Maduro. But unlike Venezuela, where a broad coalition of opposition parties invited U.S. intervention, Cuba has no such invitation and its government shows no sign of collapsing .

🇨🇺 The Naval ‘Siege’ of Cuba Already Underway

For months, the White House has imposed a secondary naval embargo on Cuba that blocks fuel shipments. The USS Abraham Lincoln would add an overwhelming force presence.

U.S. military assets already stationed near Cuba:

• Naval Station Guantánamo Bay — an active U.S. base on the island
• U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Miami
• Coast Guard cutters enforcing the fuel blockade
• Key West Naval Air Station — fighter jets within minutes of Havana

Trump’s speech suggests he is now moving from an economic blockade to a direct military assault, potentially launching a new war even before the Iran conflict is fully resolved .

🛑 Regional and International Condemnation

Mexico, Spain, and Brazil immediately condemned Trump’s threats, as did the leftist leaders of Colombia and Bolivia .

A UN spokesperson said the organization was “closely monitoring” the situation, reminding the U.S. of its Charter obligations not to use force against a sovereign state .

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has yet to address Trump’s specific threat, but he previously stated that Cuba would never surrender, vowing to “resist and ultimately defeat any U.S. invasion, as it has successfully done for decades.”

📋 Key Takeaways

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