U.S. defense officials have been making low-key preparations for a potential operation in Cuba, should President Donald Trump direct them to act, a new report says.
Relations between Washington and Havana have deteriorated since January, after the Trump administration cut off oil shipments to the island in a bid to push the Cuban government toward political change.
The pressure campaign has targeted Cuba’s top leadership, spanning the end of Raúl Castro’s era and continuing under President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Two people familiar with the situation described the planning, speaking on condition of anonymity.
At the same time, the U.S. and Cuba have held preliminary, uncertain discussions intended to “find solutions” to their most significant disputes.
Díaz-Canel confirmed in March 2026 that both governments were talking in an attempt to ease tensions stemming from the U.S. oil blockade.
While the Trump administration’s attention has recently centered on the war with Iran, friction with Cuba has not gone away.
Last month, Trump suggested Cuba would need to reach an agreement—describing the prospect as a “friendly takeover”—or otherwise face the collapse of its communist leadership.
“It may be a friendly takeover, it may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they’re really, they’re down to, as I say, fumes,” Trump stated on March 9. “They have no energy. They have no money. They’re in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis.”
Days later, in remarks to reporters from the Oval Office on March 16, Trump said he could do “anything I want” with Cuba.
He also said he anticipated what he called the “honor” of “taking Cuba in some form,” even as the two sides pursued talks aimed at improving relations.
“I do believe I’ll be … having the honor of taking Cuba. That’s a big honor. Taking Cuba in some form,” Trump told reporters
“I mean, whether I free it, take it. Think I can do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth,” Trump added.
On March 15, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said: “We’re talking to Cuba, but we’re going to do Iran before Cuba.”
In a recent Newsweek interview, Díaz-Canel said Cuba would respond if the U.S. carried out a military strike.
“We will battle, we will defend ourselves, and should we fall in battle, to die for the homeland is to live,” he said.
A U.S. operation that removed former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from his compound on January 3 reportedly sent “shockwaves” through Venezuela and Cuba’s “exile communities in South Florida,” prompting speculation that Cuba could be next, USA Today reports.
The Pentagon said it is preparing for a variety of possible scenarios. In a statement, it said it remains ready to carry out the president’s orders as directed.