The spokesperson for the State Department, Tommy Pigott, officially supported President Donald Trump's statements about Cuba on Friday, asserting on Fox News that having a failed nation off the U.S. coast "constitutes a direct threat to the national security of the United States."
Pigott's words came just one day after Trump stated in an interview with broadcaster Hugh Hewitt that he would consider a brief military campaign against Cuba if necessary to end the communist regime before leaving the White House.
"I want to resolve the situation in Cuba before I leave. We're watching it very closely. It's doing very poorly. It is essentially a failed place, a failed nation, however you want to put it," Trump said in that interview.
When asked by Hewitt if he would accept "a little military force, a week-long campaign," the president replied straightforwardly, "I would certainly consider it."
Pigott was called to Fox News to provide official context to those words. The spokesperson neither dismissed nor confirmed any specific action, but framed the situation in Cuba as a top priority for Washington.
"The reason there is a humanitarian crisis on the island is the incompetence of the regime. They are incompetent communists, as Secretary Rubio often says," stated Pigott, before clarifying the administration's goal: "that the Cuban people can be free, happy, and prosperous, just like Cubans are in many places around the world."
The spokesperson additionally detailed that Washington has offered 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid, conditioned on it reaching the Cuban population directly through independent verification mechanisms, without going through the regime's hands.
Pigott also announced that the administration will continue to identify and sanction "that network of connections" that the regime uses to appropriate the island's resources instead of directing them to the people.
The statements come at the peak of a sustained escalation throughout 2026. In March, Trump stated that he would have "the honor of taking Cuba". In October, he suggested sending naval ships 50 yards off the Cuban coast. On the 31st of that month, he promised that no Castro would be in power by the end of his term.
In parallel, the Cuban regime publicly acknowledged its military disadvantage against the United States: Cuba has about 50,000 active military personnel compared to approximately 1.3 million American troops.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has also intensified his stance in recent days. At the G7 foreign ministers' meeting held in Paris, he warned: "It is necessary for them to awaken and understand that there is no future in the path they are currently following."
Pressure is extending to the intelligence realm: the CIA published a guide in Spanish in October for Cubans with valuable information to contact the agency safely, following a public call from Rubio himself.
Trump has several months of full executive freedom ahead of him: the Democrats, who won the midterm elections on November 3, will not take control of Congress until January 3, 2027.
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