President Donald Trump stated this Monday, in a telephone interview with Salem News Channel, that he received "94% of the Cuban vote in the United States" and claimed that this creates an obligation to his voters.
"You know I received 94% of the vote from Cubans in the United States. I have an obligation, frankly, to do something for Cuba," said Trump.
The president reiterated that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, likely on its return from Iran, could stop "a couple of hundred yards off the Cuban coast."
"We will stop the Abraham Lincoln a couple of hundred yards off the coast and see how they want to do something," declared Trump.
The leader described Cuba as a "devastated" country and stated that "it would be an honor to liberate it," comparing the situation on the island to that of Iran.
"What they did to the Cubans, what they did to the families of people living in the United States, is unthinkable," he added.
The statements are consistent with what Trump had already said days earlier.
On Thursday, during a private dinner of the Forum Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump stated that the United States will "take Cuba almost immediately" after completing operations in Iran.
The president of the United States often describes the ship Abraham Lincoln as "the most beautiful aircraft carrier he has ever seen."
He explicitly conditioned any action regarding Cuba on the resolution of the conflict with Iran. "I like to get things done," he declared while linking both scenarios.
The electoral figure that Trump cites —94%— has not been corroborated by exit polls or independent electoral sources.
The verified measurements from November 2024 indicated that he received approximately 70% of the Cuban-American vote in Florida, a historic record for a Republican candidate.
The University of Florida International poll leading up to the elections indicated up to 68% voting intention among Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade.
The statements come amidst a sustained escalation of pressure on the Cuban regime.
On May 1, Trump also signed a new executive order that expands sanctions against Cuba, blocking assets of regime officials in the energy, defense, mining, and finance sectors, and imposing secondary sanctions on foreign banks that operate with sanctioned Cuban entities.
Since January 2025, your administration has accumulated over 240 sanctions and intercepted at least seven tankers of oil destined for the island, reducing energy imports by between 80% and 90%, which has led to power outages of more than 24 consecutive hours in over 55% of Cuban territory.
The regime responded with a defiant rhetoric. Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on social media that "no aggressor, no matter how powerful, will find surrender in Cuba."
The chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla described Trump's words as "a new clear and direct threat of military aggression" and stated: "Cubans will not be intimidated".
The United States Senate rejected on Monday, with 51 votes against 47, a Democratic resolution from Senator Tim Kaine that aimed to limit Trump's war powers over Cuba, clearing the way for the administration to maintain maximum pressure on Havana.
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