Donald Trump ‘planning Cuba invasion’ after President warns island nation is ‘next’

Donald Trump is considering a potential military operation in Cuba after warning the island could be “next”.

The US military has begun drawing up plans as tensions with Cuba escalate following the oil blockade imposed on January 30.

Two anonymous sources familiar with the discussions confirmed the plans to USA Today.

On Monday, Mr Trump said: “We may stop by Cuba after we’re finished with this,” referring to the ongoing war in Iran.

The comments come just two weeks after the President declared: "Cuba is going to be next."

He also previously suggested he would have the "honour" of "taking Cuba, in some form".

Mr Trump added: "Whether I free it, take it - I think I can do anything I want with it."

The plans, first reported by Zeteo’s Substack, have since circulated among officials in Washington and on Capitol Hill.

The Pentagon said in a statement it has plans in place for a range of contingencies and is prepared to carry out Mr Trump’s orders.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in a recent interview with NBC that Cubans would be willing to fight in the event of military intervention.

He said: “If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘Dying for the homeland is to live'.”

However, he added that both sides should “engage in discussions, to debate” in order to “reach agreements” and avoid conflict.

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Brian Fonseca, an academic who has extensively studied Cuba’s military, told USA Today he believes the talk of military plans is intended as a warning.

“Right now, this is a lot of signaling,” said the director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy at Florida International University.

Cuba has been plunged into widespread blackouts and fuel shortages, undermining food supplies, disrupting hospitals, and forcing schools and universities to close.

On March 30, Russia sent 700,000 barrels of crude oil - the first significant shipment since the US fuel blockade was imposed.

One Cuban resident, Marino Galvez, 66, compared the shipment to “finding water in the desert”.

The island’s foreign ministry said it could take between 25 and 35 days for the oil to be fully processed and distributed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would continue to support Cuba.

He said: “I have no doubt that we will continue providing such assistance, and that (China) will, of course, continue to take part in this cooperation as well.”

The US said it allowed the shipment to enter Cuba for humanitarian reasons and would assess future deliveries on a “case-by-case” basis.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US reserves the right to seize vessels heading to Cuba that violate sanctions.

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