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President Donald Trump said he believes he has the “honor” of “taking Cuba” as he described the Caribbean island as a “very weakened nation.”
Trump made the remark to Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy on Monday, the same day Cuba plunged into a blackout after its entire electrical grid suddenly suffered a total collapse.
“When you say Cuba is next, is Cuba — whatever you do with the military there, it seems like something — will that look more like Iran or Venezuela?” Doocy asked the president in the Oval Office.
“I can’t tell you that. I can tell you that they’re talking to us. It’s a failed nation. They have no money, they have no oil, they have no nothing,” Trump responded, before later saying, “I do believe I’ll be the honor of, having the honor of taking Cuba…That’s a big honor.”
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“Taking Cuba?” Doocy said.
“Taking Cuba in some form. Yeah. Taking Cuba, I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth?” Trump said. “They’re a very weakened nation right now. They were for a long time. A very violent, very violent leaders. Castro is a very violent leader. His brother is a very violent leader, extremely violent. That’s how they governed. They governed with violence. But a lot of people would like to go back.”
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The Cuban government is in talks with Trump administration officials, the country’s president said Friday, as Havana works to halt a potential regime change as it deals with a widening energy crisis.
Cuba’s economy has struggled since the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his home in Caracas at the start of the year. The Trump administration immediately cut off oil exports to the island.
Earlier this month, Trump also vowed to “take care” of Cuba’s regime following America’s focus on Iran.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
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