Donald Trump says he'll be 'taking Cuba' in latest escalation
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
Donald Trump has said he will be "taking Cuba", in the latest escalation of his rhetoric on the island nation.
Speaking in the Oval Office earlier today, the US president said he believed "I'll be having the honour of taking Cuba".
"That's a big honour. Taking Cuba in some form," he said.
READ MORE: 'Dead by June': Trump announces congressman's private diagnosis
"Whether I free it, take it… I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth."
He did not specify whether his ambitions would require military action including ground troops.
"They're a very weakened nation right now," Trump said.
"They were for a long time very violent, very violent leaders. (Fidel) Castro was a very violent leader."
His comments come as the New York Times reports the White House is actively seeking to push Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel from office.
The newspaper reported the Trump administration would not seek wholesale change to the Caribbean country's government.
READ MORE: Trump announces 'one of the most powerful bombing raids in history'
But removing Diaz-Canel would be seen as a symbolic win, similar to the US raid that led to the arrest of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump spoke about the appeal of taking control of Cuba from a tourism perspective.
"Cuba, in its own way - tourism and everything else - it's a beautiful island, great weather," he said.
"They're not in a hurricane zone, which is nice for a change, you know?
"They won't be asking us for money for hurricanes every week."
Cuba is very much in a hurricane zone, but is renowned for its capacity to minimise fatalities through coordinated evacuations.
READ MORE: The four-letter acronym that could pull Trump out of Iran
The country is now in a near-total electrical blackout as a consequence of a US oil blockade.
Cuba previously powered its grid with Venezuelan oil, which has been cut off since Maduro was ousted.
Ten days ago, Trump told CNN that Cuba was going to fall "pretty soon".
"They want to make a deal, and so I'm going to put Marco [Rubio] over there and we'll see how that works out," he said.
"We're really focused on this one right now."
Rubio, the US Secretary of State, is the son of Cuban migrants.
Cuba has had an adversarial relationship with the US since the 1959 Revolution resulted in a Communist government taking power.
The United States previously occupied Cuba between 1898 and 1902 following the Spanish-American War, and again from 1906 to 1909.
READ MORE: Uncorroborated claim about Trump published in Epstein files
NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.
- Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google Play
- Make 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box here
- Sign up to our breaking newsletter here
