Donald Trump joked again this Friday about during a rally held at the Alico Arena of Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, where he gathered Republican support ahead of the legislative elections on November 3.
In response to a question, Trump created a scenario that was both humorous and threatening where American ships, returning from Iran, would make a stop in front of the island.
"We will return from Iran with those beautiful boats, we will pass by Cuba and make one of them stop about 50 yards from the shore," said the president.
"They will raise their hands and then we will send Marco Rubio to finalize the agreement," he added.
The reference to raising hands could be interpreted in two ways: as a gesture of gratitude from the Cuban people upon the arrival of the American ships, or as a sign of surrender from the island's authorities.
The 50 yards that Trump refers to is equivalent to just 46 meters from the Cuban coast, a proximity that, in the scenario imagined by the president, would symbolize for many Cubans the dream of seeing their country free from dictatorship.
The crowd responded with a thunderous ovation to the leader's words, who added that it wouldn't even be necessary to stop the ships: "We can just leave it there and he'll sort it out. He's a great guy."
The rally in Fort Myers was organized to support Byron Donalds, the Republican candidate for governor of Florida, in the final stretch of the legislative campaign.
It's not the first time that Trump has resorted to this type of rhetoric in 2026. The first version of the scenario emerged on May 1, during a private dinner of the Forum Club in West Palm Beach, when he suggested sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln about 100 yards off the Cuban coast after concluding operations in Iran.
The second iteration took place on September 22, during the "Shield of the Americas" summit in New York, where Trump joked about taking Rubio to Cuba on an aircraft carrier and leaving him there to "take care of the rest."
Secretary of State Rubio —the son of Cuban immigrants— is the recurring figure in these scenarios, reflecting the symbolic weight of the Cuban-American community in the Republican electoral strategy in Florida.
On September 29, Rubio stated in a television interview that the Cuban regime has "already fallen" and insisted that the island needs a democratic transition.
Filed under: