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President Donald Trump and America's top diplomat on Thursday again raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island's former leader, Raul Castro.
Trump said previous U.S. presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that "it looks like I'll be the one that does it."
"Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something," Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an event in the Oval Office. "And, it looks like I'll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump is intent on addressing it.
Trump's "preference is always a negotiated agreement that's peaceful. That's always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba," Rubio said in Miami before boarding a plane to attend a NATO meeting in Sweden and then visit India.
"I'm just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we're dealing with right now, is not high," he said.
When asked whether the U.S. would use force in Cuba to change the island's political system, Rubio repeated that a diplomatic settlement was preferred but noted that "the president always has the option to do whatever it takes to support and protect the national interest."
He pushed back on a reporter's suggestion that it sounded like "nation-building," insisting it was about addressing a national security risk.