WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump raised the prospect of a friendly takeover of Cuba Friday, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in “very high-level” discussions with Havana. Trump cited Cuba’s deepening economic and fuel crisis as he suggested the island might accept U.S. help — a claim Cuban officials denied as they acknowledged only limited contacts after a deadly maritime incident, Feb. 27, 2026.
Trump did not explain what a friendly takeover of Cuba would entail, and the White House did not immediately provide additional details.
What a “friendly takeover of Cuba” could mean
Speaking to reporters as he departed for Texas, Trump described Cuba as a “failed nation” in acute distress and said “they want our help,” according to Reuters. He said Rubio is handling the matter directly but did not outline a legal, diplomatic or economic framework for the proposal.
The president’s phrasing left unclear whether he was referring to diplomacy, economic assistance, or a broader political change. The Associated Press said Trump portrayed the idea as potentially “very positive” for Cuban Americans who left the island, while declining to elaborate.
Havana denies high-level talks, acknowledges narrow contacts
Cuba’s government has said it is not in any “high-level” talks with Washington. Reuters also reported that Havana has not outright denied press reports of informal outreach involving Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro. Rubio, a longtime critic of Cuba’s communist government, said U.S. personnel were not involved in the armed incident that triggered emergency communications between the two countries.
Those communications followed a shootout off Cuba’s northern coast involving a Florida-registered speedboat carrying 10 armed Cubans from the U.S. that Cuba said opened fire on its forces. Cuba said four were killed and six were wounded; one Cuban official also was injured, according to AP. U.S. authorities said the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard are investigating what happened.
Rubio’s reported back channel and the administration’s pressure campaign
In the weeks leading up to Trump’s friendly takeover of Cuba remarks, Axios reported that Rubio had held secret discussions with Rodríguez Castro, described as the grandson and caretaker of Raúl Castro, bypassing official government channels. The report, detailed in Axios, portrayed the contacts as exploratory talks amid a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation on the island.
At the same time, Trump has tightened pressure on Havana through a new executive order that declares a national emergency and sets up a process for tariffs on countries that “sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba,” according to the White House. The administration has also moved to choke off oil shipments to Cuba, compounding blackouts and shortages that Cuban officials blame on U.S. policy.
How today’s talk echoes earlier U.S.-Cuba pivots
Friday’s friendly takeover of Cuba language lands on top of a decades-long cycle of engagement and pressure. In December 2014, the United States and Cuba agreed to restore diplomatic relations after more than 50 years, a breakthrough covered in a Reuters dispatch on the effort to restore ties after 50 years.
In June 2017, Trump reversed parts of that opening, ordering tighter rules for U.S. travel and business dealings with entities tied to Cuba’s military — a shift Reuters reported when Trump rolled back parts of Obama’s Cuba policy.
After historic street protests in 2021, the Biden administration responded with sanctions on Cuban officials and security forces, Reuters reported in its account of U.S. sanctions over Cuba’s protest crackdown. The rhetoric behind a friendly takeover of Cuba now suggests another possible turn — though what that means in practice remains unanswered.
For now, neither Washington nor Havana has offered a detailed roadmap. What is clear is that Trump’s friendly takeover of Cuba phrase has vaulted from off-the-cuff rhetoric into a live policy question, with Rubio’s role and Cuba’s denials setting up a volatile next chapter in a relationship shaped by pressure, migration and politics on both sides of the Florida Straits.
