US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited US troops at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Wednesday and issued a threat to the Cuban government.
Hegseth said that it would be “unwise” for the Cuban government to acquire weapons that could reach the US, saying that it would “be inviting the kind of confrontation not only do they not want, but they could not stand.”
.@SECWAR “Then you look at Cuba…
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) June 10, 2026
That government has decisions to make about what kind of reforms it wants to pursue—it’s not my job to make that decision for them.
It’s our job at the WAR DEPARTMENT to be prepared for whatever our Commander in Chief asks us to do on behalf of… pic.twitter.com/sYZKYPGQZD
The Pentagon chief also said that the Department of War was ready for anything that President Trump may order, and recent reports have said that the US military has placed enough assets in the region to be ready if the president orders an attack.
“What happens with the future of Cuba is in the hands of the president of the United States and the leadership of Cuba,” he said. “No matter what, the Department of War is going to be prepared and postured for any possible contingency.”
The Trump administration has set up potential pretexts for an attack on Cuba, including the indictment of the country’s 94-year-old former president, Raul Castro, suggesting the US may launch a similar operation to the one to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which Hegseth referenced.
“[Maduro] thought he could flaunt the United States of America,” Hegseth said. “Then he found out [he could not], in about 45 minutes, in the middle of the night, in the most heavily fortified base inside their capital city.”
