Lula Says Trump Told Him US Has No Intention of Invading Cuba

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said after a three-hour meeting with President Trump at the White House on Thursday that bilateral ties had “stabilized.” Lula told reporters that Trump conveyed, through an interpreter, that the United States has “no intention” of invading Cuba. The Brazilian president spoke at a press conference at the Brazilian Embassy in Washington.

Lula said he heard Trump state directly that there were no such plans. “I heard him – assuming the translation was correct – and heard him say that he has no intention of invading Cuba; that is what the interpreter conveyed here,” Lula told reporters on May 7, 2026. He added that “Cuba wants to talk and Cuba wants to find a solution to put an end to the blockade.”

The White House had no immediate comment on Lula’s remarks. Trump signed an executive order last week expanding U.S. sanctions on the Cuban government. The order allows blocking of property and financial interests tied to sanctioned individuals, prohibits most transactions by U.S. persons with them, and imposes travel restrictions on certain Cuban government-linked individuals.

Earlier last week Trump had spoken of taking over Cuba almost immediately after concluding operations related to Iran. He had also discussed positioning a U.S. aircraft carrier near Cuban waters and described Cuba as the next military operation. Cuban leaders have criticized the new sanctions, accusing the United States of maintaining measures that have prevented Cuba from becoming a fully integrated nation since the 1959 revolution.

Ties between Washington and Brasília had deteriorated after the U.S. imposed levies on Brazilian imports linked to Brasília’s prosecution of a former president aligned with Trump. Lula has also criticized U.S. foreign policy and trade practices in the past.