Donald Trump Jokes He's Going to 'Drop Off' Marco Rubio in Cuba to Fix the Country's Problems

During a "Shield of the Americas" gathering on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, September 22, President Donald Trump jokingly suggested he would "drop" Secretary of State Marco Rubio "off in the middle of Cuba" to fix the island nation's deep economic troubles and power blackouts.

While speaking to reporters alongside Rubio, Trump referenced the Secretary of State's Cuban American heritage.

“I mean, what can I say about Cuba? They had another blackout last night. They don’t have enough for lights. I don’t know what’s going on with Cuba, but they’re not looking so good,” Trump said. “But, you know, Marco’s parents were born in Cuba. It’s like a great story, and he wants to figure it all out — Marco, right? You want to figure out what’s exactly there.”

The POTUS continued, “I think he has figured it out. So we’re going to, someday in the near future, drop him off in the middle of Cuba, just on the way back from Iran. We’re gonna have one of those big, beautiful aircraft carriers fly him in, drop them off, and he’ll figure out the rest. He always does. It’s very unusual, but it is a great story. His parents were born there, and now look at the position — he’s secretary of state, doing a fantastic job. Do you have anything to say about that?”

The comment elicited immediate applause from the press and from Rubio himself, who was seated right next to the president.

The 55-year-old former Florida senator appeared highly amused by the scenario of being deployed as a one-man diplomatic fix on an aircraft carrier. Trump followed up by praising Rubio's background and stating he was doing a "fantastic job" as Secretary of State.

Despite the laughs, the joke followed a much more serious address to the UN General Assembly earlier in the day. In his official speech, Trump blasted Cuba's communist regime, threatened regime change, and predicted that the government "will fall soon," which prompted the Cuban delegation to stage a walkout.

On the same day, Trump officially signed a commission making Rubio the permanent National Security Advisor.

While Rubio has served in the role in an acting capacity since May 2025, this permanent appointment marks a historic concentration of diplomatic and national security power.

Rubio is the first person to simultaneously hold the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor since Henry Kissinger did so under the Nixon and Ford administrations between 1973 and 1975.

Rubio originally took over the responsibilities from Mike Waltz, who left the position to become the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

In addition to running the State Department and organizing daily inter-agency calls for the National Security Council, Rubio has also served as interim manager of USAID and the National Archives during this administration.

Critics have questioned how one official will balance the massive, around-the-clock workloads of both paramount foreign policy seats.

Meanwhile, Rubio is frequently mentioned alongside Vice President J.D. Vance as a leading possible 2028 Republican primary candidate.