US President Donald Trump announced Friday plans for the US to take over Cuba almost immediately. Speaking at an event in Florida, Trump suggested a US aircraft carrier could be deployed offshore to force the island nation into submission.
Trump indicated this move would follow the recent US-Israeli war on Iran, stating Washington would deploy a naval vessel upon returning from the conflict. He said: “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.”
Trump also suggested the show of force alone would make Cuba surrender, saying: “They’ll say ‘thank you very much. We give up.'” He added: “I like to finish a job.”
The US has expanded sanctions on Cuban government and affiliates as part of this move, targeting individuals, entities, and affiliates that support the Cuban security apparatus or are involved in corruption or serious human rights violations.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said these new measures reinforce the US’s blockade against Cuba, causing significant harm due to the intimidating behavior of the world’s greatest military power. Diaz-Canel wrote on social media: “The blockade and its reinforcement cause so much harm because of the intimidating and arrogant behaviour of the world’s greatest military power.”
Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said these sanctions aim to impose collective punishment on the Cuban people but added that Cubans would not be intimidated.
This move is the most significant for non-American companies since the US embargo against Cuba began decades ago. Oil and gas, mining companies, and banks that have carefully segregated their operations in Cuba are no longer protected.
The new sanctions contain an implicit warning to Cuba, accusing Havana of aligning with Iran and militant groups like Hezbollah. The US has long demanded Cuba open its state-run economy, pay reparations for expropriated properties, and hold free elections, but Cuba says its socialist government is not up for negotiation.
Early this year, the US halted Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba after ousting Maduro on January 3, threatening punishing tariffs if other countries sent crude. This has led to a fuel shortage in Cuba, major national blackouts, and many foreign airlines suspending flights to the island.