U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he expects the United States and Cuba to reach an agreement and indicated that military action against the island will not be necessary.
“I would say that Cuba and us will make a deal. I don’t think we’ll need the military,” Trump told reporters at the White House. His comments came after reports that the U.S. Army Reserve was assessing whether additional personnel and support units could be made available to U.S. Southern Command for potential operations involving Cuba.
Trump also said his administration wants to “help Cuba” and “open Cuba up”, while referring to Cuban Americans who want to return to the island.
The comments represent a more diplomatic tone after Trump said during his Sept. 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly that his administration was seeking a fundamental change in Cuba and predicted that the country’s communist government would fall.
Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said Saturday that Havana remains open to dialogue with Washington. The Cuban government has criticized the pressure and measures imposed by the Trump administration, while U.S. officials have continued to push for political and economic changes on the island.
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The Pentagon has not publicly confirmed plans for a military operation against Cuba. Reports about possible preparations have described requests for assessments of available support units, without indicating that deployment orders had been issued.
