A tricycle decorated with the US and Cuban flags is seen in Havana on February 26, 2026.
Yamil lage | AFP | getty images
President Donald Trump, speaking during the signing of an executive order at the White House on Monday, said he felt he would have the “honor” of “taking Cuba.”
“Whether I free it, whether I take it, I think I can do whatever I want with it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office with Vice President J.D. Vance standing behind him. “They are a very weak nation right now.”
The president’s comments about seizing Cuba come as he continues a war with Iran that is now in its third week. Trump has encouraged the people of Iran to oust their government in that conflict, which is one of several reasons he has given for starting the war.
Trump recently suggested that he would turn his attention to Cuba after the US achieved its goals in Iran. He has threatened a “friendly occupation” of the Caribbean nation, which has been an adversary of the US for decades except for a brief thaw during Barack Obama’s presidency.
The Cuban threats are the latest example of Trump’s more aggressive foreign policy during his second term in the White House. In addition to the war in Iran, Trump ordered a military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and made repeated offers to annex Denmark’s Arctic island territory Greenland. Denmark has repeatedly said that Greenland is not for sale.
white House Maduro’s capture has effectively blocked Havana from Venezuelan oil. This has created an energy and economic crisis in the island country.
Cuban confirmed it was talking to the Trump administration about a possible solution last week. Trump also confirmed the conversation on Monday.
Trump said, “I can tell you they’re talking to us; it’s a failed nation, they have no oil, they have nothing.” “They have good land.”