Donald Trump expressed to reporters that he possessed the authority to do “anything” he desired regarding Cuba, portraying the island as a failed state and indicating it would be the next adversary he would address after Iran.
His remarks were made as key officials in his administration consistently emphasized that the conflict with Iran would conclude soon, while they avoided detailing the president’s specific intentions and sidestepped discussions on the role of America’s military as a global police force.
During a signing ceremony for an executive order on Monday, a reporter inquired about Cuba. Trump replied that he could “take” the whole island and suggested he would likely have the “honor” of doing so in some capacity.
“I do believe I’ll have the honor of – taking Cuba. That would be good. That’s a big honor,” the president stated.
“Taking Cuba?” questioned Peter Doocy, a reporter from Fox.
“Taking Cuba. In some form, yeah,” Trump affirmed. “Taking Cuba.”
“I mean, whether I free it, or take it… I think I can do anything I want with it, to be honest,” Trump added.
Trump’s comments about Cuba came in the wake of a prominent warning from Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican who was a strong supporter of the president’s military actions against Iran. The South Carolina senator cheerfully mentioned that the president was systematically targeting authoritarian regimes, with Cuba next on his list.
“Cuba’s next. They’re going to follow this communist dictatorship in Cuba. Their days are numbered,” he told Fox News earlier this month.
The military operation against Iran has led to numerous casualties, including 13 American service members, and it entered its third week on Monday, with the president again asserting that an end was near while refusing to clarify what that might entail.
Additionally, oil prices globally have risen due to Iranian forces having blocked the disputed Strait of Hormuz with sea mines, through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil tanker traffic passes annually.
Trump and his aides have habitually declined to specify definite objectives for the military campaign, which was launched to eliminate the threats supposedly posed by Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and nuclear ambitions.
Weeks into the conflict, the U.S. has not clarified what progress it has made towards permanently neutralizing those threats, while the Trump administration has distanced itself from earlier proposals to initiate regime change aimed at overthrowing the Iranian government.
Cuba has been under a military blockade for many years and, like Iran, has faced severe economic consequences due to U.S.-imposed sanctions. However, unlike Iran, U.S. policies towards Cuba are rooted in its communist heritage and alliance with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.