Lindsey Graham names ‘next’ country on Trump’s radar after Iran strikes: ‘Their days are numbered’
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says President Donald Trump will target Cuba next after joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran have sparked a massive regional conflict in the Middle East.
The South Carolina senator praised Trump for “finishing the job” of former President Ronald Reagan, pointing to the now-removed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as evidence of Trump’s successful foreign policy.
“I am a big admirer of Ronald Reagan, but I’m here to tell you that Donald Trump is the gold standard for Republicans, maybe any president, when it comes to foreign policy,” Graham told Fox News Sunday night.
“Maduro? Everybody talked about him; well, Donald Trump’s got him in jail!” Graham said. “Cuba’s next. They’re gonna fall. This communist dictatorship in Cuba? Their days are numbered.”
Graham continued: “The Iranian regime. The mothership of international terrorism is about to collapse. The captain of the ship, the Ayatollah, is stone cold dead.”
His comments come days after the U.S. and Israel jointly began airstrikes on Iran, sparking a wider war within the region as Iranian forces retaliated against Israel and U.S. targets. The intense attacks, which resulted in the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, do not appear to be ending any time soon.
Meanwhile, tensions between the U.S. and Cuba have escalated over the past two months, especially following the capture of Maduro, causing an abrupt end to Venezuela’s vital fuel shipments to the communist-run island.
Last month, the Cuban government warned its allies that it could not guarantee it would be able to refuel their planes, prompting flights from Canada and Russia to halt flights to the island.
Without flights to and from the island, Cuba loses tourism, which is one of its few sources of foreign currency.
One day before the U.S. and Israel jointly began airstrikes on Iran, Trump said the U.S. was in talks with Havana, and raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Speaking to reporters outside the White House Friday, Trump said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in discussions with Cuban leaders “at a very high level.”
“The Cuban government is talking with us,” Trump said. “They have no money. They have no anything right now. But they’re talking to us, and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
Trump added: “We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.”
The president did not provide any other details about what he meant by a “friendly takeover.”
