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President Donald Trump predicted Sunday that Cuba's government could soon collapse and threatened the president of Colombia, a stark warning that underscored his administration's increasingly aggressive stance toward leftist governments across Latin America.
He reiterated his desire to annex Greenland as well.
The comments made aboard Air Force One as the president returned to Washington came less than 48 hours after the US military carried out a daring operation inside Caracas to arrest and detain Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
"Cuba looks like it's about to fall," Trump said, adding, "I don't know if they're going to hold out."
The president dismissed the possibility that the administration might use US forces to hasten the overthrow of the Cuban government, explaining that Venezuela was Cuba's main economic supporter.
"Cuba survives only thanks to Venezuela," Trump said.
Many presidents have predicted the fall of communist governments, and Havana survived the collapse of the USSR. Yet Trump's comments highlighted the extent to which his administration not only expects regime change in many countries but openly hopes for it, even amid uncertainty about Venezuela's future.
"Don't ask me who's in charge [of Venezuela] because that would be debatable," Trump said, adding "we're in charge."
Trump said he wants to rebuild the country, especially its oil infrastructure, before holding elections so the people can choose their own leader. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick implied that the steel and aluminum industries could also be revived to the benefit of the United States. For now, he said, he is willing to work with Delcy Rodriguez, the acting president, and Maduro's vice president.
Trump said he expects Rodriguez and Venezuela's new government to allow the U.S. unrestricted access to their country so that American forces can help with reconstruction.
But, he added, "if they don't behave well, we will make a second attack."
The administration maintains that targeting Maduro was, in large part, an effort to stop the drug trade. Trump also threatened Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a vocal critic of the US operation in Venezuela.
"Colombia is also very sick, it's run by a sick man who likes to produce cocaine and ship it to the United States, and he won't be doing that for much longer," Trump said.
And just hours after the Danish prime minister sharply criticized Trump for threatening to annex Greenland, the president said the United States "needs" the autonomous Danish territory.
"We need Greenland because of a national security situation," Trump said, adding that "the EU needs us to have Greenland."
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