Trump says US wants to take control of Cuba 'almost immediately'

WASHINGTON, May 2. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump said the United States intends to take control of Cuba "almost immediately" during a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, before members of the local Forum Club. The US leader mentioned Cuba saying it is a place that the United States "will be taking over almost immediately". "Cuba's got problems. We'll finish one first. I like to finish a job," he said, referring to the war against Iran. "On the way back from Iran, we'll have maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, the biggest in the world, we'll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they'll say, ‘thank you very much, we give up,’" Trump added. The US president said on March 5 that Washington intends to work out a further course of action against Cuba after the completion of the military operation against Iran. Earlier, he repeatedly stated that the Cuban government and economy were close to falling after the cessation of oil supplies to the island nation from Venezuela under pressure from the United States. On February 27, Trump said that the United States could "establish friendly control over Cuba." Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on March 13 that Havana and Washington held talks that "were aimed at finding solutions through dialogue on bilateral differences." However, the Axios portal reported in February, citing sources, that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is secretly discussing the future of the island with Raul Castro’s grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro.