Trump Says He Can 'Do Anything I Want' With Cuba
Left says
- •Trump's aggressive rhetoric about 'taking' Cuba represents dangerous expansionist language that threatens international law and sovereignty
- •The oil blockade has created a humanitarian crisis, causing power grid collapses and food shortages that harm ordinary Cuban citizens
- •Military intervention or regime change would destabilize the region and potentially create another costly foreign entanglement
- •Diplomatic negotiations should focus on human rights improvements rather than territorial conquest or forced government changes
Right says
- •Cuba's communist regime has been a failed state for decades, oppressing its people through violence and authoritarian control
- •The island nation is severely weakened by economic collapse and energy crises, making this an opportune moment for liberation
- •Cuban expatriates and many citizens would welcome freedom from communist rule and the chance to rebuild their country
- •Trump's successful operations in Venezuela and Iran demonstrate effective leadership in confronting hostile regimes in the hemisphere
Common Take
High Consensus- Cuba is experiencing severe economic hardship with widespread power outages and food shortages
- The Cuban government and Trump administration are currently engaged in diplomatic negotiations
- Cuba has been under communist rule for over six decades since the Castro revolution
- The island has significant strategic importance in the Caribbean region
The Arguments
Left argues
Trump's language about 'taking' Cuba and doing 'anything I want with it' represents dangerous expansionist rhetoric that violates international law and sovereignty principles that have governed relations between nations since World War II.
Right counters
Cuba has been a failed communist state for over six decades, oppressing its people through violence and authoritarian control, making liberation a moral imperative rather than illegal expansion.
Right argues
Cuba's regime is severely weakened by economic collapse and energy crises, with citizens already protesting by burning communist party buildings, creating an opportune moment to help the Cuban people achieve freedom from decades of oppression.
Left counters
The current humanitarian crisis is largely caused by the U.S. oil blockade itself, and military intervention would likely worsen conditions for ordinary Cubans while creating regional instability.
Left argues
The oil blockade has created a humanitarian disaster with complete power grid collapses and food shortages that primarily harm innocent Cuban civilians rather than the regime leaders who remain insulated from these effects.
Right counters
Economic pressure is necessary to weaken the authoritarian regime's grip on power, and Cuban expatriates and many citizens would welcome liberation from communist rule despite short-term hardships.
Right argues
Trump's successful operations in Venezuela and Iran demonstrate effective leadership in confronting hostile regimes, proving that decisive action can remove threats to hemispheric security and human rights.
Left counters
Military interventions and regime changes historically create power vacuums and long-term instability, potentially turning Cuba into another costly foreign entanglement that drains American resources.
Left argues
Diplomatic negotiations should focus on gradual human rights improvements and democratic reforms rather than forced regime change, which could destabilize the entire Caribbean region and create refugee crises.
Right counters
Six decades of diplomatic engagement have failed to improve conditions for the Cuban people, and the regime's current weakness presents a unique historical opportunity that may not come again.
Challenge Questions
These questions target genuine internal contradictions — meant to provoke honest reflection.
Right asks Left
“If diplomatic engagement and gradual reform approaches have been tried for decades without meaningful improvement in human rights or democratic freedoms for the Cuban people, what evidence suggests that continuing the same approach will produce different results now?”
Left asks Right
“If the goal is truly to help the Cuban people achieve freedom and prosperity, how do you reconcile supporting military intervention with the historical pattern of U.S. interventions in Latin America often leading to prolonged instability and civilian suffering?”
Outlier Report
Left Fringe
Anti-war progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders likely represent ~20% of the left taking the most extreme anti-intervention stance, calling for immediate diplomatic engagement and condemning any military threats.
Right Fringe
Neoconservative hawks and Cuban-American hardliners like Sen. Marco Rubio represent ~25% of the right pushing for maximum pressure or direct intervention, viewing this as completing unfinished Cold War business.
Noise Assessment
Moderate noise level - Trump's dramatic language ('I can do anything I want') generates amplified social media reactions, but the underlying Cuba policy debate reflects genuine ideological divisions rather than pure performance.
Sources (8)
When asked by a reporter, President Trump shared remarks about "taking Cuba" during an executive order signing on Monday.
<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/i-can-do-anything-i-want-with-it-trump-confirms-he-s-eying-another-country-for-the-taking.jpg?id=65301579&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C19%2C0%2C87" /><br /><br /><p>The U.S. under President Donald Trump has decapitated both the Venezuelan and Iranian regimes. Trump confirmed on Monday that he now has his sights set on another country.</p><p>When asked whether the "next" country up was Cuba and whether the approach taken will "look like Iran or Venezuela," Trump <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-vice-president-vance-launch-anti-fraud-task-force/675586" target="_blank">said</a>, "Can't tell you that. I can tell you that they're talking to us. It's a failed nation. They have no money. They have no oil. They have no nothing. They have nice land. They have nice landscape, you know. It's a beautiful island. I think they have great people."</p><p class="pull-quote">'They're a very weakened nation.'</p><p>After extolling the entrepreneurial spirit of the Cuban people and noting that many expatriates would love to visit the communist-controlled island, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, "All my life I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba. 'When will the United States do it?'"</p><p>Trump said he believes he will have "the honor of taking Cuba. ... That's a big honor."</p><p>When asked to clarify what such a takeover might look like, the president said, "Free it, take it — I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth. They're a very weakened nation."</p><p>Cuba's electrical grid <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/cuba-power-grid-oil-blocked" target="_blank">completely collapsed</a> on Monday. The Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mines noted in <a href="https://x.com/EnergiaMinasCub/status/2033864788439191904?s=20" target="_blank">social media</a> <a href="https://x.com/EnergiaMinasCub/status/2033843037135073695?s=20" target="_blank">posts</a> on Tuesday that efforts were still under way to restore electric systems around the country.</p><p>Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that the impact of the American-imposed oil blockade, which has been in effect for months, "is tremendous."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/cubans-torch-communist-headquarters-moron" target="_blank">Cubans torch communist headquarters in protest of blackouts and food shortages</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="f7192" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65302189&width=1245&height=700&quality=50&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54" /><small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel at an "anti-imperialist" protest in front of the U.S. embassy in Havana.</small></p><p>Trump issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba/" target="_blank">executive order</a> on Jan. 29, accusing the Cuban government of "extraordinary actions that harm and threaten the United States" and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba/" target="_blank">signaling</a> that any nation that directly or indirectly sells oil to Cuba will have its exports to the U.S. slapped with additional tariffs.</p><p>In addition to prompting Mexico to suspend energy shipments to Cuba and cutting off the flow of Venezuelan oil to Havana, the U.S. has reportedly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/world/americas/venezuela-cuba-oil-tanker.html" target="_blank">seized</a> shipments bound for the island and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/world/americas/cuba-oil-blockade-trump.html" target="_blank">intercepted</a> vessels searching for fuel in the Caribbean Sea.</p><p>Cuba's energy crisis and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/cuba/cuba-daily-life-shortages-oil-embargo-us-relations-rcna263646" target="_blank">worsening food shortage</a> have exacerbated internal tensions and prompted protests. On Friday, for instance, protesters <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/cubans-torch-communist-headquarters-moron" target="_blank">reportedly</a> burned and ransacked a local communist party building — an incident Díaz-Canel <a href="https://x.com/DiazCanelB/status/2032909505537671468?s=20" target="_blank">suggested</a> was the result of "distress" caused by the U.S. blockade.</p><p>U.S. and Cuban officials have been negotiating over the the fate of the island, four sources said to be familiar with the talks <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/world/americas/trump-cuba-president-diaz-canel.html" target="_blank">told</a> the New York Times. The U.S. has reportedly signaled to the Cubans that the Trump administration might be satisfied with Díaz-Canel and some regime elders faithful to the murderous ideals of Fidel Castro getting the boot and the Cuban people figuring out the next steps.</p><p>"Direct conversations with the United States are about finding, through dialogue, solutions to the differences that exist between the two countries," Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuba's chief of mission to the U.S., <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/13/cuba-us-trump-talks-00827682" target="_blank">told</a> Politico. "The conversations are not about Cuba’s internal affairs — our constitutional system, our political model, our social and socialist economy which we Cubans have built."</p><p>On Sunday, Trump <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-speaks-to-reporters-aboard-air-force-one/675575" target="_blank">told</a> reporters on Air Force One, "We're talking to Cuba, but we're going to do Iran before Cuba," adding that "people have been waiting 50 years" for possible action on the Cuban front.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>
President Donald Trump said Monday that he could do “anything” he wants with Cuba, suggesting the United States could potentially take over the island nation and topple its communist government. When asked about his plans, Trump said he believed he would “have the honor of taking Cuba” in “some form.” After capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás ...
President Donald Trump said at the White House that he believes he has the “honor" of “taking Cuba" as he described the Caribbean island as a “failed nation."
"STATEHOOD, #51, ANYONE?" the president asked on his Truth Social platform.
Cuba’s power grid collapsed on Monday leaving the island in the dark with the crisis creating dangerous conditions and leaving residents outraged. It comes on the same day President Donald Trump made comments about his plans for Cuba. “I think I can do anything I want with it,” he said. NBC’s George Solis reports for TODAY from Havana.
Still at war with Iran and in control in Venezuela, President Trump is signaling that he is about to intervene in another country.
President Trump on Monday said he believes he will have the “honor” of taking over Cuba, coming as the administration is choking the communist regime in Havana with a fuel blockade. Trump, speaking to reporters from the Oval Office, would not rule out a military move, adding, “I think I can do anything I want…