MIAMI — President Donald Trump was at the construction site of the new White House ballroom on Tuesday morning when he talked to reporters about Cuba.
After a reporter asked Trump if he was confident that he could reach “a diplomatic deal” with Cuba, Trump said, “I think so. Yeah, I think so.”
The president later added, “We are going to get that solved. That’s not going to be hard for us to solve.”
Trump described Cuban Americans as “incredible people,” and Cuban Americans in Miami as “amazing people,” who he wanted to help.
“Many of them have lost family members. They have been very badly hurt themselves. They have been in prison. They have come to this country, and they have been very successful,” Trump said.
Cubans on the island have been dealing with fuel shortages since the U.S. military captured Nicolás Maduro and the U.S. stopped the regular flow of Venezuelan oil to the island.
“I don’t know about changing the regime. I can do that whether you change the regime or not,” Trump said about helping Cubans. “You know, it has been a rough regime, and they have killed a lot of people.”
In front of the “Ventanita” at Versailles in Miami’s Little Havana, there was consensus among Cuban Americans about the need for regime change. Communists have exerted control for about six decades.
Trump described Cuba as “a failed nation” and added that Cubans on the island “really” needed help.
“They can’t turn on the lights, they can’t eat,” Trump said. “We don’t want to see that.”
The U.S. State Department recently offered $100 million in direct humanitarian aid through representatives of Catholic charities on the island, and the Cuban government announced welcoming it.
On Monday, the U.S. Southern Command published a video on X of military exercises that ended with a nocturnal satellite image showing Cuba.
Lethal. Precise. Ready.
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 18, 2026
U.S. military forces deployed to the #SOUTHCOM area of responsibility are demonstrating America's resolve to ensure the Western Hemisphere is safe from threats that undermine security, stability and democracy. @DeptofWar @SecWar pic.twitter.com/kFXSCRzJ47
Earlier this month, SOUTHCOM also released a photo on X of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio standing in front of a Cuba Reference Map with Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the commander of SOUTHCOM.
Both posts mentioned U.S. efforts to counter “threats that undermine security, stability, and democracy in our hemisphere.”
Also on Monday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the U.S. of threatening “military aggression,” following a report that the Cuban military had acquired attack drones capable of targeting South Florida.
In a statement published Monday on X, Díaz-Canel wrote in Spanish, “Cuba poses no threat, nor does it have aggressive plans or intentions against any country,” after Axios reported, sourcing “classified intelligence,” that the Cuban military had 300 drones.
“The threats of military aggression against Cuba from the world’s greatest power are well-known. The threat itself already constitutes an international crime,” Díaz-Canel wrote.
He added that, “If it were to materialize, it would trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences, plus the destructive impact on regional peace and stability.”
Hours later, the U.S. Treasury announced that a group of Cuban officials, three generals, and three agencies faced new U.S. sanctions.
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