Pentagon getting plans ready for possible military op in Cuba as Trump makes threat

U.S. military officials are quietly preparing for a possible operation in Cuba, in case President Donald Trump orders action, according to a new report.

Tensions between the U.S. and Cuba have soured since January, when the Trump administration reduced oil shipments to the island as part of an effort to pressure its government into political change.

The measures were aimed at Cuba’s leadership, first under Raúl Castro and later Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The two sources familiar with the situation spoke on the condition of anonymity.

There have been talks between the U.S. and Cuba that are still early and uncertain, but aimed at ‘finding solutions’ to major disagreements.

Cuban leader Díaz-Canel confirmed in March 2026 that both sides were in discussions to try and resolve tensions caused by the U.S. oil blockade.

Trump has spoken about his plans for Cuba in the past (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Although the Trump administration’s focus has shifted to the war with Iran, tensions between the U.S. and Cuba remain.

Trump suggested last month Cuba would have to make a deal in a ‘friendly takeover’ or face a takeover of its communist regime.

“It may be a friendly takeover, it may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they’re really, they’re down to, as I say, fumes,” Trump stated on March 9. “They have no energy. They have no money. They’re in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis.”

It is understood that the US has been asking for the removal of Cuban leader Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A week later, while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on March 16, Trump said he can do ‘anything I want’ with Cuba.

He said he expected to have the ‘honor’ of ‘taking Cuba in some form’ even as the two countries opened talks at improving their relationships.

“I do believe I'll be ... having the honor ​of taking Cuba. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba in some form," Trump told reporters

"I ​mean, whether I free it, take it. Think I can do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth," ​Trump added.

On March 15, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “We’re talking to Cuba, but we’re going to do Iran before Cuba.”

Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel said his country would fight back if the U.S. launched a military attack in a recent interview with Newsweek.

"We will battle, we will defend ourselves, and should we fall in battle, to die for the homeland is to live," he said.

The U.S. operation that extracted former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from his compound on January 3 reportedly sent ‘shockwaves’ through Venezuela and Cuba’s ‘exile communities in South Florida’, sparking speculation that Cuba would be next, USA Today reports.

The Pentagon said it is preparing for a range of contingencies. In a statement to the publication it added that it remains ready to carry out the president’s orders as directed.

UNILAD has contacted the Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State for comment.