Trump says 'Cuba is gonna fall too', administration to focus on communist country after Iran
WASHINGTON,DC: President Donald Trump suggested that his administration could soon turn its attention to Cuba once the ongoing confrontation with Iran stabilizes, claiming the communist-run island nation is “going to fall pretty soon.”
In a phone interview with Dana Bash of CNN on Friday, March 6, Trump made the remark as he described the military successes during his second term.
The president also suggested that Havana is eager to negotiate with Washington and hinted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could lead those efforts.
2/7 ON CUBA: President Trump said, "Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon." He said he's going to "put Marco over there" and "we've got plenty of time, but Cuba's ready."
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) March 6, 2026
Trump says 'Cuba will fall soon'
During the conversation, Trump pivoted from discussing Iran to predicting major political change in Cuba.
“Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon, by the way, unrelated, but Cuba is gonna fall too. They want to make a deal so badly,” Trump said.
The president added that he may task Rubio with handling negotiations.
“They want to make a deal, and so I’m going to put Marco over there and we’ll see how that works out. We’re really focused on this one right now. We’ve got plenty of time, but Cuba’s ready, after 50 years,” Trump said.
Trump also credited himself for what he claimed was the weakening of the Cuban regime.
“I’ve been watching it for 50 years, and it’s fallen right into my lap because of me and we’re doing very well,” he added.
NEW: @DanaBashCNN just got off the phone with President Trump. He rated the war with Iran at a 12 or 15 out of 10, and said "Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon." Here's more from their conversation. pic.twitter.com/gCLWffgJEU
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics) March 6, 2026
Cuba to be next policy target
Trump had made similar comments a day earlier during remarks at the White House, suggesting that Cuba could become a major focus for his administration after the Iran conflict is resolved.
Referring again to Rubio, Trump said the secretary of state was ready to tackle the issue but that the administration wanted to finish its current priorities first.
“He’s doing some job, and your next one is going to be, we want to do that special Cuba,” Trump said. “But he says, ‘Let’s get this one finished first'.”
The president added that trying to pursue multiple geopolitical objectives simultaneously could backfire.
“We could do them all at the same time, but bad things happen. If you watch countries over the years, you do them all too fast, bad things happen. We’re not going to let anything bad happen to this country.”
4/7 And when I asked him about other Gulf countries being hit, President Trump said Iran "made a terrible mistake when they attacked them." And the countries are "doing unbelievable
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) March 6, 2026
Trump boasts about Iran campaign success
In the same interview, Trump argued that Iran had been dramatically weakened by recent military operations, saying the country is “not the same” as it was just days earlier.
“Iran is not the same country it was a week ago. A week ago they were powerful, and now they’ve been indeed neutered,” he said.
Trump also suggested that reshaping Iran’s leadership would not be difficult and compared the situation to events in Venezuela, where he claimed US actions helped install new leadership earlier this year.
He added the next leader needs to "treat the United States and Israel well”. Trump also did not rule out the possibility of having a religious leader in Iran.
5/7 ON THE NEXT LEADER OF IRAN: President Trump said "it's going to work like it did in Venezuela." And when I asked if he's okay with having another religious leader he said "I may be, yeah
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) March 6, 2026
“It’s gonna work very easily. It’s going to work like we did in Venezuela. We have a wonderful leader there. She’s doing a fantastic job,” Trump said, referring to acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez.