The US could target Havana after military operations in the Middle East are over, the American president has said
Regime change in Cuba is “just a question of time,” US President Donald Trump has said, renewing threats against the island’s government and suggesting Washington could turn its focus on Havana, once the war on Iran ends.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Trump praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Miami-born son of Cuban immigrants, for doing a “fantastic job” on Cuba. The US has stepped up sanctions on the island’s economy, effectively imposing an oil blockade that has compounded severe fuel and food shortages.
Will Trump attempt to enforce regime change in Cuba?
“What’s happening with Cuba is amazing,” Trump said during a visit from the football team Inter Miami.
“We think that we want to fix — finish this one [Iran] first, but that will be just a question of time,” he added.
Trump made the remarks after touting the ongoing campaign against Iran, saying US and Israeli forces were continuing to “totally demolish the enemy.” The two countries launched massive airstrikes on Iran last Saturday, citing an alleged need to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
The strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior military commanders, along with hundreds of civilians, including some 160 schoolgirls in a strike attributed ti the US by the New York Times.
The comments on Cuba follow earlier signals from Trump and his supporters about the Caribbean nation.
“Cuba’s next,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday in an interview with Fox News after the strikes on Iran began.
In a separate interview with Politico on Thursday, Trump predicted that once Iran’s government is toppled, “Cuba’s going to fall, too.”
Can oil reach Cuba?
Trump has also taken credit for squeezing the island’s economy in an effort to force Havana to negotiate with Washington.
“We cut off all oil, all money, or we cut off everything coming in from Venezuela, which was the sole source,” Trump told Politico. “And they want to make a deal.”
No oil shipments have reached Cuba since early January, forcing airlines to cancel flights and worsening the island’s already severe economic crisis. The decline in energy supplies stems from a US‑imposed blockade on Venezuelan oil – Cuba’s main source of fuel – after Washington’s intervention there and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Mexico also stopped oil deliveries under US pressure, cutting Cuba off from outside supplies and fueling blackouts across the island.
Speaking about the operation in Caracas, Trump previously stated that he would play a role in determining who governs the country next.
“We’ll be involved in it very much,” Trump said at the time, adding that the United States “can’t take a chance” on who replaces Maduro.
Trump has also suggested the Pentagon could easily capture Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in an operation similar to the one carried out in Venezuela, saying such a raid “wouldn’t be very tough.”
What has Russia said about the US blockade of Cuba?
Russia has condemned Washington’s economic blockade of Cuba, warning that sanctions and coercive measures against the island violate international law and risk destabilizing the region.
Trump’s latest comments come as Washington steps up military operations in Latin America. Cartel violence erupted across Mexico after drug lord Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was killed in a joint US-Mexican operation last month. The strike set off nationwide unrest, with cartel‑military clashes fueling fears over the safety and staging of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Trump’s increasingly aggressive use of military force prompted Time magazine to feature eight MAGA hats on its March cover, each replacing “America” in the slogan with a country name: Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria, Ecuador, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
The magazine noted that while Trump had promised to end wars rather than start them, he has deployed military force in increasingly expansive ways, striking more countries in a shorter period than any modern US leader.