Donald Trump Says US Will Take Over Cuba 'Almost Immediately'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Newsweek

Published May 02, 2026 at 06:03 AM EDT updated May 02, 2026 at 06:04 AM EDT


President Donald Trump said Friday during remarks in Florida that the United States would take over Cuba “almost immediately,” suggesting an aircraft carrier could be positioned offshore after the conflict in Iran. The comments came the same day Trump signed an executive order significantly expanding U.S. sanctions on the Cuban government and its affiliates. Cuba’s government, foreign companies doing business on the island and U.S. allies in the region could face heightened pressure amid a sharp escalation in rhetoric and economic penalties. Newsweek has contacted the White House for clarity on what Trump meant.

Why It Matters

Trump’s remarks add a dramatic edge to an already intensifying U.S. pressure campaign against Havana, which his administration has framed as a national security threat. While the president’s comments appeared partly joking, they followed concrete policy action in the form of broadened sanctions.

Remarks Made During Florida Event

Speaking at the long‑running, nonpartisan Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida, during a Friday evening event on May 1, 2026, Trump said the United States would be “taking over” Cuba “almost immediately,” a comment that drew attention for its timing and tone.

He made the remark while addressing the crowd and referencing Cuba’s ongoing political and economic problems, according to Fox News. Trump went on to paint a hypothetical scenario involving U.S. military presence offshore, saying an American aircraft carrier could stop just outside Cuban waters. According to Trump, the show of force alone would be enough to compel surrender, adding that he prefers to “finish a job.”

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-us-take-over-cuba-11905781

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RELATED - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143659392

[sakabatou]

1. Here's hoping everyone in the US navy says a "fuck no" to doing that

[Miguelito Loveless]

9. Soldiers and sailors obey orders

This has been shown with all of the war crimes to date, so unlikely to change now.

[Ray Bruns]

2. I would suggest to Mango Mussolini that losing one war an administration would be enough

But I’m sure he’s too stupid to understand it.

[Initech]

60. The 2024 election was never about the economy or gas prices, was it?

[bdamomma]

62. Nope

having him in once was not enough for 77 million people to say NO and voted for him for his 2nd reign of terror, with NO GUARD RAILS.

[Lonestarblue]

61. He's trying to change the narrative from the Iran War.

The media will cooperate and stop reporting on Iran, just as they mostly have on the Epstein files. Trump likes to create a major issue every couple of weeks so his failures in all the previous ones are forgotten.

[FakeNoose]

66. And he's always ... ALWAYS ... hoping we'll forget about Epstein

[UpInArms]

3. Why in the fuck does the media act like this is normal behavior for the president

of the United States?

This is NOT NORMAL!

How about the headline:

Acting as a Marauding Attacking Nation, TFG Announced His Plan to Overthrow a Sovereign Nation

and the sub header of:

With the backing of a republican majority, the United States has become a Rogue Nation

[Evolve Dammit]

4. x1000!

[Miguelito Loveless]

10. The corporate media

Make money this way. Nthey are owned by billionaires who also own Trump.

[Polybius]

22. I like it, except that he's unfortunately not TFG anymore

Perhaps TCG (The Current Guy)?

[UpInArms]

24. The Felon Guy

He will always be that

[BWdem4life]

38. I'm partial to "TSF"

The sick fuck.

[bdamomma]

64. Yes

he has proved that he is many times. So why is he still there??????? Do more people have to be killed, and more people are dying in those concentration camps on American soil too because of bad conditions.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

48. Yeah, he still is TFG.

That fucking guy, although I prefer to use TSF.

[Skittles]

29. just imagine how they would frame it if a DEM president was behaving like this

ESPCECIALLY a woman or POC

[LymphocyteLover]

43. the complicit media is as disgusting as this POS POTUS

[GiqueCee]

49. I'm pretty sure...

...it's because the M$M is owned by Trump-humping oligarchs who just want to keep their useful idiot occupied with his vengeful fantasies, and leaves them alone to rape and pillage America until there's nothing left but a puddle of blood and bone in the ashes of a once-great nation.

[Bluestocking]

5. Then what

Cuba becomes part of the US. All Cuban nationals living in Cuba and outside Cuba become US citizens. He really does not think things through.

[popsdenver]

18. He is thinking

that Cuba would make an incredible five star resort island and the perfect place for a Trump Hotel/Resort with a number of Trump Golf Courses......The Uber rich would be the only ones to go there, and he could provide the massive security needed for them.
All of the Cuban citizens could be converted to be grounds keepers and domestic help for lower wages than even in the U.S. at his golf course resort properties.......

The top 1% and U.S. Corporations could set up residences and headquarters there, and completely evade not only Income taxes, or corporate taxes, but also do away with the massive expense of having to pay all of the tax accountants and tax lawyers to prepare them......

The best part is, that all the 1%ers will be safely protected over there if all hell breaks loose here in the U.S.....and Trump will surround the island with the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers protecting them in their island fortress......
All the FEMA money will go towards taking care of Cuba in case of a hurricane....The Uber Rich will once again be able to smoke Cuban Cigars legally, the up side is endless for Trump and Republican Oligarchs....

[chicoescuela]

33. He is looking for another distraction

[Deuxcents]

53. TSF doesn't do anything until he can make a profit for himself and I think you nailed it, popsdenver

Cuba will be closer to home and can get started before Gaza is ready for demolition and resorts

[IronLionZion]

6. Iran isn't going how he wants so he picks an easier target closer to home

Cuba has fewer options to fight back. He's desperate for a victory.

[dexdah]

15. Cuba has options

It’s called guerrilla warfare. I imagine they wouldn’t mind taking out some imperialists after all these years of embargo.

[popsdenver]

57. Trump and the Republicans have already done a blockade

of all oil & Natural Gas coming into Cuba and maybe kept them from getting any goods that are shipped in to the country......
They are yet another easy take over. They are working on Equador? with our U.S. Military having boots on the ground there, and already has overwhelmed Venezuella.

Putin desperately wants Iceland, Greenland and Canada and is backing Trump to get them all for Russia.....

[sinkingfeeling]

7. The war monger is on the march.

[Bengus81]

8. Fat Hitler is on the march to his next supposed conquest

[murielm99]

50. The first Hitler lost

for several reasons. One of them was fighting a war on two fronts.

[raccoon]

11. Does he mean the way the US took over Iran "almost immediately?"

[Ray Bruns]

12. Absolutely. Didn't you hear? We've won that war like five times already.

[LymphocyteLover]

67. or maybe he'll try a Venezuela-style kidnapping of the president and pretend the regime is changed

[GiqueCee]

13. NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT!

Is Trumpleforeskin's favorite excuse for doing anything illegal and/or morally repugnant. But anyone with a functional prefrontal cortex knows that the most dangerous national security threat facing America today is the lying, thieving, child-molesting traitor, Donald J. Trump.

[popsdenver]

19. AND

not just him, but the entire Republican Criminal Syndicate CABAL........They will just install someone worse, if an MI or stroke causes Trump's demise.......As a bonus, they would then have someone who wasn't serving a second master: Putin

[Hope22]

14. Epstein Trump files, Epstein Trump files.......

Trump files….lock em up!

[dexdah]

16. In Two Weeks?

Did he speak with Vlad about this?

[Callie1979]

17. So our sailors dont get ANY down time from the ME deployment?

For the Ford (I think) it's already the longest it's ever been.

[Initech]

40. Not when a psycho is president and a Fox News chucklefuck is in charge of the military.

And they're abusing the military to satisfy some bizarre apocalypse fetish.

[durablend]

20. "When you're president they allow you to just grab it"

[pat_k]

21. " after the conflict in Iran" -- unfortunately, there is no "after" as long as the felon is in the WH.

NO WAY OUT with the felon in the WH
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=21212188

[JohnnyRingo]

23. Check which kid bet on the date

Not surprising that DJT Enterprises is moving into the "predictability market" for gambling

[SidneyR]

25. Another illegal war.

Attacking Cuba would be a war of aggression, completely illegal.

[Bayard]

30. It would be a nice change of pace if he actually did something legal

Venezuela, Iran, Cuba--all illegal wars, not approved by Congress. He's like Wack-A-Mole--smack him down in once place, he pops up somewhere else.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

70. Apparently, America was Great in the 1890's ...

Direct U.S. control of Cuba
1898–1902: U.S. military occupation

After defeating Spain in the Spanish–American War (1898), the U.S. occupied Cuba as a military government. Cuba was ruled directly by U.S. authorities during this period.

- CoPilot

Just as Putin wats a renewal of the Soviet Empire, The Old Man wants to return to the days of the American Empire - even expanding on it.

[Chasstev365]

26. Arrest him NOW!

[bdamomma]

65. There

are several of them who need to be arrested, Stephen Miller, those thugs on the Supreme Court and those weasels in the GOP who are cowards, that they cannot stand up to a bully!!!!!!

[not a texan]

27. I didn't know that Cuba was that close to developing a nuclear weapon

That must be the reason that we need another war

[patphil]

28. Is he tired of so much "winning" in Iran that he's getting bored?

So now he wants to find another soft enemy, like Venezuela to slap around.
If he attacks, he may find that Cuba may be easy to take, but hard to hold onto.

This looks like a play for the Cuban American vote. Or perhaps another bumbling, mumbling, rambling rattle of a brain that's circling the drain one last time.

[sop]

31. 'No Aggressor, No Matter How Powerful, Will Find Surrender in Cuba,' President Warns Trump

"President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez of Cuba on Saturday responded with stark and defiant words to the latest attacks coming from US President Donald Trump, who on Friday signed a new executive order authorizing even more aggressive sanctions against the island nation and later threatened to invade the country."

“ 'The President of the United States escalates his threats of military aggression against Cuba to a dangerous and unprecedented scale,' said Díaz-Canel in a statement. 'The international community must take note and, together with the people of the United States, determine whether such a drastic criminal act will be allowed to satisfy the interests of a small but wealthy and influential group, driven by desires for revenge and domination.' "

“ 'No aggressor, no matter how powerful, will find surrender in Cuba,' he added. If Trump were to attack the country, the Cuban president said, “'he will find a people determined to defend sovereignty and independence in every inch of the national territory.' "

https://www.commondreams.org/news/cuba-responds-to-trump-invasion-threat

[Doodley]

32. Trump wants to be King of the World. I mean, he actually thinks he can hold the entire planet to ransom.

[rhiannon55]

34. I wish he would leave Cuba alone.

He is such an insane narcissistic asshole that he’s always looking for a target to bully. I hate him with the heat of a thousand suns.

[Jack Valentino]

36. I hold the influence of 'Little Marco' almost entirely responsible

for the Trump threats against Cuba! ---

but likely many of the other far-right administration members
are in agreement with it!

[sop]

44. It's all Rubio.

Marco's old hardline anti-Castro backers have been dreaming of "returning" (Volveremos!) to Cuba for more than sixty years. It's all they talk and write about on Miami's Spanish language rightwing media. They actually believe the pre-Castro Cuba they fondly remember still exists, and fully expect their confiscated properties will be returned to them. It will be absolute chaos.

[Jack Valentino]

69. I'll pay for Rubio's one-way ticket back!!!! And the sooner the better

[Jack Valentino]

35. I guess the Cubans 'won't mind too much' ??? Getting rather ahead of himself,

isn't he? since we still haven't 'taken over' Iran yet, either.....


Fucking demented moronic maniac who has already spent
most of our military's ammunition against Iran.....


SMALL HANDS OFF CUBA! I think JESUS would agree with me!
("Blessed are the peacemakers....&quot

[BWdem4life]

37. Possibly within the next two weeks?

I know, nothing to make light of..

[bmichaelh]

39. Almost Immediately....I do not think it means what you think it means

Not only does Trump's vocabulary exist at a 4th grade level, he does not use the right word.

.

[HighFired49]

41. He said he would take over Cuba before he even started with Iran and while f***ing up Venezuela

Can't locate the article right now, but he said that he would take Cuba when he finished with Iran. I'll also bet that he will eventually move against Greenland.
He has a steel trap mind. Once he dreams up stupid crap to do he can't leave it alone, and won't be talked out of it since of course, he is never wrong. What really pisses me off are the R's who just sit on their hands and gawk as if they have no power to control this mess!!!! Impeachment, any one?

[BumRushDaShow]

42. " I'll also bet that he will eventually move against Greenland."

He may take Panama before that (for the canal) as there is $$$$ to be made.

[justsomeguy01]

45. So sad to say this, but

It's not inconceivable that in the near future the entire world unites against the US and approves of a major nuclear power unleashing a small nuke against a gathering of top Republicans in DC or Mar-a-lago.

[Thomas Hurt]

46. Generalissimo Antonio Rubio el Jefecito sounds good doesn't it.

The new Batista

[dalton99a]

47. And U.S. taxpayers will be paying for their care and feeding

[Deuxcents]

54. The embargo should have been lifted decades ago and Cuba would be self sufficient

We would have trade and tourism, they would be able to feed and care for themselves. Their medical research and education is highly valued and their doctors are all over Caribbean islands. We have suffocated Cuba all these years and now TSF wants to go in and strangle them.

[dlk]

51. The outrageous behavior to distract from the Epstein files continues

n/t

[Botany]

52. Both Iran and Cuba are not like Venezuela and they have or will fight back.

He is @ crazy mad man on his last loop around the sun. He had to leave in the middle of the
his golf game yesterday for “dental work.” He needs to be stopped now.

Trump’s Merde a Logo in Florida might be a good target for some Cuban agents in Florida.

Btw these really bad ideas will not make erase EPSTEIN.

[Texin]

55. Well, I guess he's now at the Blackbeard stage of his so-called presidency at this point.

[Dangling0826]

56. Will china get involed?

I am not saying China wants to get into a fight over Cuba, but I think all China has to do is tell Trump not to do this and he will back off. I am a little surprised China hasn't done anything to help Cuba with the Trump oil blockade of the island.

[twodogsbarking]

58. A surprise attack?

[Zorro]

59. The key part of the plan to cancel November elections

Attack Cuba, then declare a "national emergency" and suspend the election.

[struggle4progress]

63. Surely our round and brave Generalissimo Donny John shall lead the landing party himself!, now that

his courage has been fortified by several seasons of killing Caribbean fisherfolk, his heroic attacks on Iranian schoolgirls, and his almost-legendary attempt to steal Venezuela's oil

He is a man who is not afraid to have his troopers shoot mothers in the face or emergency-room nurses in the back!

With the help oh his great strategists -- like Marco the Rube, who has a dream of an American gulag in El Salvador -- we can bring back the glory days when US mobsters ruled Cuba!

[thought crime]

68. Teeing up the next crisis

Trump fatigue is growing by leaps and bounds.