President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday that the United States is “freeing up Cuba,” but indicated that he does not believe it will require a military intervention.Earlier in the day, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced an indictment of former first secretary Raul Castro, the brother of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in relation to the 1996 downing of two airplanes operated by Cuban exiles.Trump, speaking on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, suggested the news marked “a very big moment for people, not only Cuban Americans, but people that came from Cuba that want to go back to Cuba, and people that want to see their family in Cuba.”
Trump cited his strong support among Cuban Americans in past political campaigns.
“They’re unbelievable people, they’re unbelievable entrepreneurs, and they’d like to go back,” he continued. “I think that, hopefully, they’re going to want to live here, but they want to go back — maybe they’ll invest. We’ll see what happens, but we’re freeing up Cuba.”
The president added that he didn’t believe there would be an “escalation” in tension between the two countries, adding that the American mission was to provide aid to the Cuban people and that he would soon be making an announcement regarding the Cuban embargo.
