President Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to 'take care of' Cuba after dealing with Iran, responding to requests from multiple Latin American leaders at the inaugural Shield of the Americas Summit.

Trump spoke at his Trump National Doral Miami golf course in Doral, Florida, where he hosted presidents and officials from more than a dozen countries, including Argentina's Javier Milei, El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, the Dominican Republic's Luis Abinader, Guyana's Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Costa Rica's Rodrigo Chaves Robles, Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz, and Chile's president-elect José Antonio Kast. The event launched a U.S.-led coalition aimed at combating narco-terrorist cartels, illegal migration, and regional threats under the Shield of the Americas initiative, with outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem serving as special envoy.

"Many of you have come today and they say, 'I hope you can take care of Cuba.' Because you have problems with Cuba, right?" Trump told the gathering. "I was surprised, but four of you said, actually, ‘Could you do us a favor? Take care of Cuba.’ I'll take care of it, okay?" he added to applause. Trump described Cuba's communist regime as being "in its last moments of life," weakened by the loss of Venezuelan oil subsidies and U.S. sanctions. "They have no money, they have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that's been bad for a long time," he said, predicting a "great new life" ahead.

Trump pointed to recent U.S. successes in Venezuela as a model, where American forces captured former leader Nicolás Maduro in January 2026. The U.S. now works with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, extracting "tremendous amounts of oil" and securing gold mining deals. A Treasury license issued March 6 bars Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Cuba from Venezuelan gold business. "They're making more money now than they've ever made in the history of their country," Trump said of Venezuela.

The president emphasized that America's "focus right now is on Iran," boasting that U.S. forces had "knocked out" 42 Iranian naval ships, the air force, and all telecommunications in recent days during the ongoing conflict, now in its ninth day. In a CNN interview the day before with Dana Bash, Trump reiterated plans for Cuba, saying, "Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon... I’m going to put Marco [Rubio] over there." Rubio, the secretary of state, is already negotiating with Havana, Trump noted.

Cuba faces severe energy shortages, with nationwide blackouts affecting millions, worsened by a January U.S. executive order declaring a national emergency over alleged ties to hostile powers and disrupted oil supplies. The summit proclamation commits the coalition to hemispheric security, reflecting Trump's "Donroe Doctrine" to reassert U.S. influence in the region.