President Donald Trump has suggested the United States could take over Cuba, but on amicable terms.
The statement on Friday came as Trump was preparing to board his presidential helicopter, Marine One, on the White House lawn en route to Texas.
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Approaching the media scrum, Trump took questions about the tense relations the US has with countries like Iran and Cuba, two countries where he has suggested he would like to see new governments.
In Cuba’s case, Trump suggested a transition that would be “very positive for the people who were expelled or worse”.
“The Cuban government is talking with us, and they’re in a big deal of trouble, as you know. They have no money. They have no anything right now, but they’re talking with us,” Trump told reporters.
“And maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Trump has been pushing for regime change on the communist-led Caribbean island over the last two months, using economic and diplomatic pressure.
In Friday’s remarks, Trump reiterated his stance that Cuba is “a failing nation” teetering on collapse.
“Since I’m a little boy, I’ve been hearing about Cuba, and everybody wanted to change, and I can see that happening,” Trump said.
He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American known for his hawkish stance, is leading the initiative.
“Marco Rubio is dealing on it and at a very high level, and you know, they have no money. They have no oil, they have no food,” Trump said. “It’s really right now a nation in deep trouble. And they want our help.”
Increasing pressure on Cuba
The US has long had strained relations with Cuba, an island just 145 kilometres, or 90 miles, from its shores. Since the 1960s, the US has imposed a full trade embargo on the island, weakening its economy.
But tensions have accelerated since January 3, when Trump authorised a military operation to abduct and imprison Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close ally of Cuba.
An estimated 32 Cuban soldiers were killed in the attack, alongside Venezuelan military personnel.
In the aftermath, Trump ratcheted up pressure against the island, publicly speculating that its government is “ready to fall”.
On January 11, he announced that no more Venezuelan oil or money would flow to Cuba. Then, on January 29, he issued an executive order threatening tariffs on any country that supplies oil directly or indirectly to the island.
Cuba’s energy grid largely relies on fossil fuels to generate electricity, and the United Nations has warned of the potential for an imminent humanitarian “collapse” on the island if supplies are not restored.
A panel of UN human rights experts also cast doubt this month on Trump’s stated rationale that Cuba constitutes an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security, due to its relations with China, Russia and other US rivals.
The fuel blockade, they explained, served primarily as “an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion” that violated international law.
“There is no right under international law to impose economic penalties on third States for engaging