Trump denies deploying aircraft carrier to intimidate Cuba
President Donald Trump denied that deploying a U.S.aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean was meant to intimidate Cuba. He said the United States is acting on a humanitarian basis, describing Cuba as a failing, isolated country lacking basic necessities, and he pointed to the Cuban American community, especially in Miami, as part of his motivation to help.
Trump also commented after the Justice Department announcement that federal prosecutors had indicted former cuban President Raúl Castro and five others. The indictment is tied to the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue attacks, including allegations such as conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and destruction of aircraft. While Trump indicated he did not expect or threaten “escalation” with Cuba, he suggested the U.S. is “freeing up Cuba” and dismissed comparisons to the U.S.handling of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
President Donald Trump denied that he deployed an aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean to intimidate Cuba one day after his Justice Department indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro.
“No, not at all,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday when asked if the deployment was an intimidation tactic.
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Trump, describing U.S. action in Cuba as humanitarian, called the isolated communist nation “a failed country.”
“They don’t have electricity, they don’t have money; they don’t have really anything, they don’t have food,” the president said. “We’re going to help them because I want to help them on a humanitarian basis.”
He added: “We have the Cuban American population, much of it living in Miami, Florida, that’s a great group of people, amazing group of people, industrious, just they’re great Americans. They’ve wanted this stuff, and they want to go back to their country; they want to help their country.”
Trump welcomed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement on Wednesday that federal prosecutors had indicted Castro, 94, and five others. The indictment is connected to the Feb. 24, 1996, attack on two aircraft operated by the Miami-based Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Charges include conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and destruction of aircraft.
Trump, speaking on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, downplayed the prospect of an “escalation” between the U.S. and Cuba, but told reporters, “We’ll see what happens, but we’re freeing up Cuba.”
In answer to a question from the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, the president dismissed the idea of the U.S. arresting in the same manner in which it detained former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in January.
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“I don’t want to say that,” Trump said.
USS Nimitz and three escort warships entered the southern Caribbean Sea on Wednesday shortly after Blanche’s announcement, which was made in Florida.
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