President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. is seeking to help the Cuban people and denied that the recent arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier near Cuba was intended to intimidate the island’s government, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump was asked if the deployment of the aircraft carrier this week was a warning to Havana.

“Cubans — it’s a failed country. All of them they know they don’t have electricity, they don’t have money, they don’t really have anything. They don’t have food, and we will help them, and we will help them,” he said.

Trump said his administration’s approach to Cuba will focus on humanitarian issues, as well as strengthening ties with Cuban-Americans in the U.S., especially in the state of Florida.

“First, I want to help them, on a humanitarian basis, but we have The Cuban-American population, most of it lives in Miami and Florida, it’s a big group of people,” Trump said. “An incredible group of people, hardworking. They’re great Americans,” he added.

Trump said many Cuban-Americans hope to one day return to Cuba to rebuild and invest.

“They’ve loved these things and they want to go back to their country, they want to help their country,” he said. “I hope they will stay here, but they want to come back, they want to invest in their country and see if they can revive it,” declared the American president.

Trump added that his administration wants to “open the opportunity for Cuban-Americans to come back and help.”

Source: prizrenpost