Trump says U.S. warships could stop 50 yards off Cuba after Iran and send Rubio in to ‘finish up the deal’

U.S. President Donald Trump said American warships returning from the Iran conflict could make a stop near Cuba, describing one vessel pulling up about 50 yards from the coast before Secretary of State Marco Rubio is sent in to “finish up the deal.”

“We’ll take care of Cuba on our way back from Iran,” Trump told a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday. He did not explain what agreement he expected Rubio to complete or whether the scenario reflected an operational military plan.

Hours later, Rubio issued an unusually direct appeal to Cubans seeking political change, urging them to use what he called an opportunity created by disillusionment, corruption and the privileged lives of a small elite.

“Seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA,” Rubio wrote on X, without giving further details about what such cooperation would involve.

The Trump administration has intensified economic and political pressure on Havana this year and has previously said it seeks a change in Cuba’s communist government. Trump said last month that he believed Washington and Havana could still reach an agreement without military action.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez rejected what he called U.S. threats against the island. “Our shores have beautiful beaches, but also diente de perro,” he wrote, referring to Cuba’s jagged coastal rock formations, which he said were inhospitable to those arriving “with hostile intentions and desires for domination.”