President Donald Trump told a Florida crowd Friday that a U.S. warship could force Cuba's communist government to surrender after Iran, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent to "finish up the deal."
Trump made the remarks during a campaign rally at Alico Arena at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers after someone in the audience asked about Cuba.
"No, Cuba, he wants to know what about Cuba. Give me a break. Give me a break," Trump said. "Don't worry. We'll take care of Cuba on our way back from Iran. We'll do a little stopover."
Trump then described having American ships pass the island on their return from Iran, with one stopping just offshore.
"No, we'll do a little stopover. Actually, what we're going to do with Cuba is we're going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba," he said.
.@POTUS: "We're gonna come back from Iran, those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll raise up their hands — and then we're gonna send @SecRubio in to finish up the job."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 23, 2026
*crowd ROARS* pic.twitter.com/91Jf26EWDM
"We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll raise up their hands. And then we're going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal."
Trump went on to suggest that Rubio could handle the task without the ships stopping.
"We'll have Marco. We don't even have to stop," he said. "We could just put him in there and he'll figure it out. He's a great guy."
Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida, has handled much of the administration's Cuba policy. Trump has said he wants to fundamentally change the island's communist government, increasing pressure on Havana during his second term.
In September, the administration announced additional sanctions targeting Cuban elites, financial channels and resource operations. The State Department accused the communist government of posing a threat to U.S. national security.
Rubio has also publicly questioned how long Cuba's current system can survive. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, he described the country as a failure under leaders who continued to promote a revolution that had not worked.
Trump's Florida appearance was intended to support Republican Rep. Byron Donalds in his campaign for governor against Democrat David Jolly. Cuba remains a major political issue in the state, where Cuban Americans are an influential voting bloc.
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