> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bullquill.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Trump Cuba remarks: US warship would stop 50 yards off the coast - URL: https://bullquill.com/trump-cuba-warships-rubio-cia/ - Published: 2026-10-24T14:50:38.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T15:26:19.000Z - Description: Trump said he would then send Marco Rubio "to finish up the deal" but gave no timetable or details. No military operation against Cuba has been announced. - Author: Rowan Ashby - Tags: World, Breaking, Trending, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Cuba, CIA, US Midterm Elections 2026, #lang-en, #tr-trump-cuba-warships-rubio-cia ## Key takeaways - At a midterm rally in Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday, October 23, President Donald Trump said US warships returning from the Iran war would "pass Cuba" and that one would stop "about 50 yards off the coast", according to the Associated Press. - Trump said he would then send Secretary of State Marco Rubio "to finish up the deal". He gave no timetable, no operational details and no description of what any deal would contain. - Shortly afterwards, Rubio posted on X urging Cubans who want change to pursue it "through a discrete partnership with the CIA", according to Fox News and AFP. - Havana rejected the remarks. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote on X: "We reject every threat related to US ambitions toward Cuba." - No military operation against Cuba has been announced. These are statements, not a confirmed plan. ## What Trump said about Cuba at the Florida rally President Donald Trump said at a Fort Myers rally on October 23 that US warships returning from the Iran war would pass Cuba, with one stopping "about 50 yards off the coast," the AP reported. The Trump Cuba comments came without a timetable. "Actually, what we're going to do with Cuba is, we're going to come back from Iran," Trump said, according to a transcript excerpt published by Business Today. He added that "those beautiful ships will pass Cuba" and described it as "a little stopover", the AP reported. He then said the US would send Rubio "to finish up the deal". Trump also said that if talks did not move forward, "we may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree", according to Business Today, an apparent reference to US military action against Iran. He did not say what the US wants Havana to agree to. ## Rubio's CIA appeal to Cubans Right after the rally remarks, Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a former senator from Florida, posted a message addressed to Cubans. "To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time," he wrote, according to Fox News. The post urged them to "seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA." The post did not name any specific operation. AFP reported that the CIA later published a Spanish-language video on X explaining how people could pass it information, including by visiting an official US facility in person when it was safe to do so. ## How Havana responded Cuban officials answered on X on October 23, according to AFP and Business Today: - **Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez** wrote that Cuba rejects "every threat related to US ambitions toward Cuba" and added the hashtag "#CubaIsNotAThreat The Blockade Is". AFP said he also warned that the island's coast has sharp limestone rock that is hostile to anyone arriving with aggressive intent. - **Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío** said the United States was "resorting to public recruitment for the CIA" and mocked what he called the agency's "desperation or misery", AFP reported. The White House, the State Department and the CIA did not provide further detail on the remarks in the reports reviewed by Bullquill. Fox News said it had asked all three, and the Cuban Embassy in Washington, for comment. ## Is the US going to invade Cuba? What we know and what we don't | Question | Status as of October 24, 2026, 15:00 UTC | Source | | ---------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- | | Did Trump say warships would stop off Cuba? | Yes, at the Fort Myers rally on October 23 | AP via PBS; Business Today | | Has a military operation been announced? | No. No order, timetable or deployment details have been made public | AP via PBS; Fox News | | What "deal" did Trump mean? | Not explained | Fox News | | Did Rubio call on Cubans to work with the CIA? | Yes, in an X post on October 23 | Fox News; AFP | | Has Cuba responded? | Yes, the foreign minister and deputy foreign minister rejected the remarks | AFP; Business Today | Trump's comments do not confirm any plan to invade or blockade Cuba. In September he said he did not think the US would need the military because "Cuba is failing very badly", the AP reported. Rubio has said Washington would prefer a peaceful outcome but doubts a diplomatic deal is possible with the current government. ## Background: months of US pressure on Cuba - **May 2026:** The US filed federal criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro. Trump said then that past presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades, but "it looks like I'll be the one that does it," according to the AP. AFP reported that Florida's top prosecutor has since announced a state arrest warrant tied to the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the federal case legally baseless. - **Energy pressure:** AFP reported that since January the administration has kept a de facto energy blockade that threatens penalties on countries supplying fuel to Cuba. The island has had blackouts, food shortages and high inflation since 2020, according to the AP. - **September 2026:** At the UN General Assembly, Trump said he would "not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep." On September 29, Rubio told Fox News: "The truth is Cuba has already fallen." - **This week:** The two governments clashed at the UN over the annual resolution condemning the US embargo, the AP reported. - **Venezuela precedent:** According to AFP, Trump has pointed to US criminal charges against Nicolás Maduro, a close Cuban ally, as part of the case for the operation that removed him from power. The comments come as the US weighs its next steps on Iran. Bullquill has covered [Trump's statement that the US is "not negotiating" with Iran](https://bullquill.com/trump-says-us-not-negotiating-with-iran/) and the reported planning for renewed strikes after the vote. ## What it means For now, the Cuba remarks are campaign-rally rhetoric combined with an unusual public CIA appeal, not a declared policy change. They still raise the temperature in an already tense relationship. The rally was aimed at South Florida's Cuban-American voters days before the midterms, a context also seen in Bullquill's coverage of [the US-Canada midterm interference dispute](https://bullquill.com/us-canada-midterm-interference-dispute/), ["No Kings" early-vote protests](https://bullquill.com/no-kings-vote-early-protests-midterms-2026/) and [state rules on AI political ads](https://bullquill.com/ai-political-ads-midterms-state-laws/). Things to watch next: any formal White House or Pentagon statement on naval movements in the Caribbean, whether US-Cuba talks resume, further CIA outreach, and Havana's diplomatic response at the UN. The timing of any warship return depends on the course of the Iran war, which the AP notes Trump has repeatedly said is winding down but which has not ended. ## Frequently asked questions ### What did Trump say about Cuba? At a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, on October 23, 2026, Trump said US warships returning from the Iran war would pass Cuba, that one would stop about 50 yards off the coast, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would then be sent to "finish up the deal", according to the AP. ### Is the US going to invade Cuba? No military operation against Cuba has been announced. Trump gave no timetable or operational details, and in September he said he did not think the US would need the military because Cuba was "failing very badly", according to the AP. ### What did Marco Rubio say about the CIA and Cuba? In an X post on October 23, Rubio told Cubans seeking change that "now is the time" and urged them to pursue it "through a discrete partnership with the CIA", according to Fox News and AFP. The post did not describe any specific operation. ### How did Cuba respond? Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote on X that Cuba rejects "every threat related to US ambitions toward Cuba", and Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío mocked the CIA appeal as public recruitment, according to AFP. ## Sources - [AP via PBS NewsHour: Trump at GOP rally in Florida revives idea of military intervention in Cuba after Iran](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-at-gop-rally-in-florida-revives-idea-of-military-intervention-in-cuba-after-iran?ref=bullquill.com) - [AP News: Trump at South Florida rally revives the idea of military intervention in Cuba](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-cuba-venezuela-florida-3b33aab6719558e289632e974c7a82ad?ref=bullquill.com) - [Reuters: Trump says US will take care of Cuba on its way back from Iran](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-says-us-will-take-care-cuba-its-way-back-iran-2026-10-23/?ref=bullquill.com) - [Fox News: Rubio urges Cubans to work with CIA to bring political change](https://www.foxnews.com/world/rubio-urges-cubans-work-cia-bring-political-change-communist-run-island?ref=bullquill.com) - [AFP via Arab News: Cuba mocks US "desperation" after Rubio urges Cubans to work with CIA](https://www.arabnews.com/world/cuba-mocks-us-desperation-after-rubio-urges-cubans-to-work-with-cia-3007975?ref=bullquill.com) - [Business Today: Rubio urges Cubans to act via CIA "partnership", Trump floats warship stopover](https://www.businesstoday.in/world/story/now-is-the-time-rubio-calls-on-cubans-for-regime-change-via-cia-partnership-563431-2026-10-24?ref=bullquill.com)