President Donald Trump spoke at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in Florida on Friday night, and he seemed in a jocular mood. He had a wry smile on his face as he talked about the 67-year-old problem of communist Cuba, which is only 90 miles off Key West. The long-suffering residents have faced dire economic conditions for decades, and photographs show an island country still mired in the 1960s.
Meanwhile, they have a long history of cozying up to our enemies. Maybe we’ll just take it, the president joked (?). Watch:
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump says he might TAKE OVER CUBA "almost immediately" using the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN traveling back from Iran
"On the way back from Iran, we'll have one of our big, maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. We'll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they'll say, 'thank you very much, we give up!'" 🤣
"A place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately. Now, Cuba's got problems. We'll finish one [the conflict in Iran] first. I like to finish the job."
Cuba is next, Marco [Rubio] has been waiting! 🔥
The president had a slight grin on his face as he delivered the remarks, which were received with laughter and applause, but the actions he’s taken in his second stint as president have been anything but funny to the regime of the República de Cuba. He has hammered them with sanctions, cut off much of their oil supply, and publicly stated that the country is “seeing the end” of its communist way of life. Backed by his Cuban-American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, Trump’s administration has subscribed to a “maximum pressure” strategy and has even hinted they might force the removal of President Miguel Díaz‑Canel.
As RedState’s Ward Clark reported Friday, Trump ordered new May Day sanctions against the communist regime. Under Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom Jeremy Lewin posted the news:
Today, @POTUS imposed powerful new sanctions on the Cuban regime and its kleptocratic elites, military-intelligence apparatus and financial enablers. Just 90 miles from the American homeland, Cuba’s communist rulers have turned the island over to hostile military, intelligence and terrorist actors. Under President Trump and @SecRubio, we are reasserting American dominance in our hemisphere and ensuring crime, drugs, chaos and anti-Americanism never again fester in our backyard.
Trump might be joking — but he might not be. With Operation Midnight Hammer attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025, Operation Absolute Resolve in January of this year, which removed former dictator Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela, and the ongoing Operation Epic Fury against the mullahs of Iran that commenced in February, the president has proven that he’s willing to take actions that other presidents would never even fathom.
He may have just been joshing at the event — but if I were a Cuban leader tonight, I sure as heck wouldn’t be laughing.
