A tricycle is decorated with U.S. and Cuban flags in Havana on Feb. 26, 2026.
Yamil Lage | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Monday said he thinks he will have the “honor” of “taking Cuba,” speaking during an executive order signing at the White House.
“Whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office with Vice President JD Vance standing behind him. “They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
The president’s comments on taking Cuba come as he carries out a war in Iran that is stretching into its third week. Trump has encouraged the people of Iran to depose their government in that conflict, one of a litany of reasons he has given for starting the war.
Trump recently suggested he will turn his sights to Cuba after the U.S. achieves its aims in Iran. He has threatened a “friendly takeover” of the Caribbean nation, which has been an adversary of the U.S. for decades except for a brief thaw when Barack Obama was president.
The Cuba 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 the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and has made repeated overtures to acquire Greenland, the Arctic island territory of Denmark. Denmark has repeatedly said Greenland is not for sale.
The White House has effectively blockaded Havana from Venezuelan oil after Maduro’s capture. That has caused an energy and economic crisis in the island country.
Cuba confirmed it was speaking with the Trump administration about a potential solution last week. Trump also confirmed the talks on Monday.
“I can tell you that they’re talking to us; it’s a failed nation, they have no oil, they have no nothing,” Trump said. “They have nice land.”
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