President Donald Trump jokingly claimed Friday night that the United States will be "taking over" Cuba in the near future and hinted that it could be after the conflict with Iran is resolved. 

The president made the comment when recognizing attendees at a Florida event in West Palm Beach. The guests included former Rep. Dan Mica.

"He comes from, originally, a place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately," Trump said of Mica. "Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job."

The president then jokingly suggested that the takeover could happen as some U.S. warships return from the Middle East.

"On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big — maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — the biggest in the world," he said. "We’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, we give up.’"

The comments come after Trump signed an executive order imposing new sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Cuba, citing concerns regarding threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy.

The president has also teased in the past that Cuba could be "next," after the U.S. successfully carried out a military operation to retrieve former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his country to stand trial in the United States.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.