President Donald Trump turned a Cuba sanctions escalation into a military punchline Friday, joking that a US aircraft carrier could stop “about 100 yards offshore” and make Havana surrender, hours after signing an executive order expanding sanctions across major sectors of the Cuban economy.
Speaking at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches’ 50th anniversary dinner in West Palm Beach, Trump singled out architect Rick Gonzalez, whom he described as originally from Cuba, then said the island would be taken over “almost immediately.”
He added that he wanted to “finish one first,” referring to Iran, before saying the USS Abraham Lincoln could pass Cuba “on the way back from Iran.”
“Stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much. We give up,’” Trump said, according to a transcript of the remarks.
The actual policy move came earlier Friday, when Trump signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against foreign persons operating in, or having operated in, Cuba’s energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sectors. The order also allows the Treasury secretary, in consultation with the State Department, to designate other sectors of the Cuban economy.
Reuters reported that the sanctions target people, entities, and affiliates supporting Cuba’s security apparatus, those allegedly complicit in corruption or serious human rights abuses, and agents, officials, or supporters of the Cuban government. The order also authorizes secondary sanctions for conducting or facilitating transactions with targeted parties.
Jeremy Paner, a former sanctions investigator at the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, told Reuters the order was the most significant Cuba move for non-U.S. companies since the embargo began decades ago, warning that oil and gas firms, mining companies, and banks that had separated Cuba operations from US exposure “are no longer protected.”
Cuba rejected the measures immediately. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called them “unilateral coercive measures” aimed at “collective punishment against the Cuban people” and said they violate the United Nations Charter. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called the sanctions “coercive” and said they reinforced the US blockade.
Iran rhetoric framed the Cuba remark
Trump’s Cuba joke followed separate comments describing US Navy actions against Iranian shipping as “like pirates.” Reuters reported that Trump was referring to US seizures tied to Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports during the US and Israel’s war against Iran.
“We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said Friday. “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates but we are not playing games.”
Reuters reported that some Iranian vessels have been seized after leaving Iranian ports, along with sanctioned container ships and Iranian tankers in Asian waters.
The Iran conflict has already moved beyond rhetoric. Reuters reported that the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, Iran retaliated against Israel and Gulf states hosting US bases, and the confrontation has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
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