US Army Reserve Reviews Cuba Contingency Plans as Trump Predicts Deal

The United States military is reviewing preparatory steps that could position support units near Cuba within the next four months, according to CBS News, even as President Donald Trump said on 26 and 27 September that he expects Washington and Havana to reach a deal without the need for armed force.¹²⁷⁸

Army Reserve request

According to CBS News and Euronews, the U.S. Army Reserve is assessing whether it might furnish military police, medics and additional support personnel to U.S. Southern Command, the military command covering Central and South America including the Caribbean, within 90 to 120 days. The request reportedly covers six categories of units, including an engineer battalion, and several US officials said it relates to planning around Cuba, though the internal document does not mention the country by name.¹³

Officials emphasized that deployment orders have not gone out to any unit, and that the July briefings did not indicate a final call by either the White House or defense leadership to move forward with an operation. A Southern Command spokesperson said, "Due to operational security concerns, we do not disclose details on US operational movements."¹³⁷

CBS News also reported that earlier this year, US forces conducted underwater and coastal surveillance missions near Cuba, that air power units were put on elevated alert status and directed to position personnel in advance, and that intelligence analysts were evaluating potential Cuban reactions to a US military strike. Planners reportedly examined options including an air assault by the 101st Airborne Division involving thousands of soldiers. These details rest on a single source and have not been independently confirmed.¹

Trump's public position

At the White House and at the United Nations, Trump repeatedly said he expects an agreement with Cuba rather than military confrontation. "My sense is Cuba and the United States are headed toward an agreement. military intervention won't be necessary," he remarked. He also said, "Cuba is failing very badly. We want to help Cuba. our aim is to make Cuba accessible to Americans."²⁸

Speaking to the UN, Trump labeled Cuba "an absolutely failed state," said he sought "a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba," and declared that while communism would never reach America, freedom would come to Cuba. Cuba's delegates exited the chamber as he spoke.²⁷⁸

Cuba's response

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez told the General Assembly that Washington's oil blockade amounts to "an act of collective punishment designed to push the island into a humanitarian crisis." He said Cuba "will always be prepared for dialogue with the government of the United States" on the basis of sovereign equality and without preconditions, while adding of possible military action, "We hope it never happens."²⁷⁸

A Cuban official, quoted by Al Jazeera, described any US military action against Cuba as an atrocious international crime against a peaceful neighbouring country of more than 10 million people, and said Washington's economic coercion was equivalent to genocide, maintained for more than 60 years. These characterisations are attributed to a single Cuban source and are contested by the position of the Trump administration.⁴

Economic pressure

Riotimesonline.com reports that Cuba's economy shrank by 15 percent from 2020 to 2025, and that a US-imposed oil blockade launched earlier this year has prevented the bulk of fuel shipments from reaching Cuban shores. The Jamaica Observer noted that Cuba faces fuel scarcity and power outages exacerbated by deteriorating infrastructure, a strain that grew worse after US forces ousted Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro in January—Maduro having formerly been a key ally who supplied oil to Cuba.²⁸

Cuba's national power grid suffered its eighth total collapse of 2026 in September, and the US dollar reached a record 735 Cuban pesos on the informal market, according to riotimesonline.com. In June, Havana had announced 176 economic reforms. The State Department is reportedly weighing strict new controls on Cuban diplomats.²

International reactions

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng addressed the UN, stating, "China calls on the country in question to halt at once its threats of force directed at Cuba. End without delay the full range of blockade measures and sanctions." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov similarly urged the US to end what he termed its blockade of Cuba, riotimesonline.com reported.²