U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States, on May 1, 2026. (Photo by Li Yuanqing/Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday his predecessors have mulled intervening in Cuba for decades and now it looks like he will be the one that does it.

"Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something," Trump told reporters at the White House. "And, it looks like I'll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it."

Cuban Americans can go back and help, he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Thursday that the likelihood of a negotiated agreement with Cuba is not high at the moment.

The United States has recently indicted Cuban Revolution leader Raul Castro in connection with the Cuban military's fatal downing of two planes 30 years ago, and sent the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group to the Caribbean, moves seen as part of a broader pressure campaign against Cuba.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Wednesday the U.S. indictment of Castro is a "political maneuver" with no legal basis, adding that Washington "is lying and manipulating the events surrounding the downing of the small planes belonging to the narco-terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue."

He warned on Monday that any U.S. military attack on Cuba would cause "a bloodbath with incalculable consequences" and a devastating impact on peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean.