Trump’s remarks show US invasion of Cuba could be imminent

US President Donald Trump’s escalating remarks may signal that a US invasion of Cuba could be imminent, Axios reported Tuesday.

Trump is ramping up pressure on Cuba’s leadership, fueling fears that his ongoing threats to invade the Caribbean nation could become reality, the report said.

It said that a US invasion of Cuba would mark the most dramatic confrontation between Washington and Havana since the 1962 missile crisis, and the boldest test yet of Trump’s campaign to expand America’s influence in the Western Hemisphere.

US surveillance and reconnaissance missions near Cuba’s coastline have increased sharply since February, the report said, citing CNN’s analysis of flight-tracking data released earlier this week.

However, the report also noted that there are currently definitive indications that Trump plans to target Cuba.

Brazil’s President Lula da Silva told journalists last Thursday that Trump privately assured him during a closed-door meeting at the White House that he had no plans to invade Cuba.

Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in a military operation in Cuba, suggesting on May 1 that an aircraft carrier returning to the US from Iran could be stationed offshore.

He said the carrier could “come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say: ‘Thank you very much. We give up.'”