US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he believes he will have “the honor of taking Cuba” and that he “can do anything” he wants with the island, as the nation of 11 million people faced a large-scale blackout and a humanitarian crisis intensified by the Trump administration’s oil embargo.
“It’s a beautiful island, great weather,” Trump said of Cuba, whose economy has been strangled by decades of US economic warfare. “I do believe… I’ll be having the honor of taking Cuba.”
Asked to clarify what he meant by “taking” Cuba, Trump said: “Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it—I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth. A very weakened nation.”
Watch:
Trump: Cuba, it’s a beautiful island. Great weather. I will be having the honor of taking Cuba. Whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth pic.twitter.com/Po7J9tJMr2
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 16, 2026
“Dear god,” responded David Adler, co-general coordinator of Progressive International. “Donald Trump is once again announcing his plans for a violent invasion of Cuba. We must stop him. To stand up for Cuba—against this malignant colonial mindset—is to stand up for all of humanity.”
Trump’s remarks came as Cuba faced an island-wide blackout caused by what the government called “complete disconnection” of the nation’s electrical system. According to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the country hasn’t received an oil shipment in over three months due to the Trump administration’s embargo, which began shortly after the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and set its sights on the island as its next target.
“Cuba is ready to fall,” Trump said hours after the kidnapping of Maduro.
The New York Times reported Monday that the Trump administration is seeking to remove Diaz-Canel from power in ongoing talks with the nation’s government.
“In the view of some Trump administration officials, removing Cuba’s head of state would allow structural economic changes in the country that Mr. Díaz-Canel, whom the officials consider a hard-liner, is unlikely to support,” the Times reported. “If the Cubans agree, it would result in the first major political shake-up arising from talks between the two countries since those began a few months ago.”
Trump’s latest threat to seize Cuba came as his administration continued to wage war on Iran, a deadly assault that was not authorized by the US Congress and is illegal under international law.
“He’s at war in Iran without congressional authorization. He overthrew Venezuela by force. He threatened to invade a NATO ally,” US Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) said Monday. “Now he wants to take Cuba and thinks he can do ‘anything he wants’ with it. Where the hell are my Republican colleagues?”
“They took the same oath I did. Every single one of them who stays silent owns this,” Levin added. “A Congress that won’t stop a president who answers to no one isn’t a coequal branch. It’s an accomplice.”
Last week, a trio of Senate Democrats introduced a war powers resolution aimed at preventing Trump from attacking Cuba, but the measure likely faces the same fate as previous resolutions on Venezuela and Iran in the Republican-controlled chamber.
“The United States is a full-blown rogue state under Donald Trump,” Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, wrote Monday.
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