Trump Floats ‘Friendly Takeover Of Cuba’ As High-Level Talks With Havana

President Donald J. Trump said Friday that the United States is engaged in high-level discussions with Cuba and publicly floated the idea of what he described as a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island — a proposal rooted in diplomacy backed by strategic pressure, not open military conflict.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House before departing for Texas, Trump said he had tasked Secretary of State Marco Rubio with leading talks with Cuban officials amid what he characterized as a deepening crisis in Havana. “The Cuban government is talking with us,” Mr. Trump said. “They have no money. They have no oil. They have nothing right now. But they’re talking to us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

Trump doubled down on the phrase moments later, saying, “We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba,” although he did not provide specifics on what such a transition would look like or entail.

Describing Cuba’s condition in stark terms, the president called the communist island “a failed nation” in need of transformation. “They want our help,” he said, signaling that Washington’s approach marries economic leverage and diplomacy with firm negotiation.

His remarks followed a tense maritime confrontation earlier in the week, in which Cuban authorities reported that a Florida-registered speedboat carrying armed Cubans opened fire on Cuban soldiers off the island’s north coast — an incident that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. U.S. officials, including Rubio, have said the U.S. government is investigating the encounter, though they denied involvement in the incident itself.

The Cuba comments come as Mr. Trump’s foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere has been in sharp focus following the U.S. operation that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power — a move that severed Cuba’s crucial oil lifeline and left the communist regime more isolated than at any point in decades.

Despite the historic U.S. embargo that has now been in place for more than six decades, Trump’s remarks reflect a bold push for regime change through dialogue that he asserts could be welcomed by Cuban exiles and dissidents, even as details about what a “friendly takeover” might look like remain undefined.