WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Donald Trump and America’s top diplomat on Thursday again raised the specter of military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro.

Trump said previous US presidents have considered intervening in Cuba for decades, but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”

“Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to US adversaries and that Trump is intent on addressing it.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who has long taken a hard line against Cuba’s socialist leadership, said the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully but is doubtful the US can reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.

Trump’s “preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful. That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba,” Rubio said in Miami before boarding a plane to attend a NATO meeting in Sweden and then visit India.

“I’m just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high,” he said.

Top Trump aides — including Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe, and other senior national security officials — have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the US side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government in the past week.

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© The Times of Israel