Days before the November 3 midterms, with voters already feeling the war with Iran at the gas pump and the grocery store, President Donald Trump stood before a Florida rally crowd and floated not one but two new military adventures.
“Another little Epic Fury”
Speaking Friday night at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Alico Arena in Fort Myers, at a rally for Republican candidates, Trump told the crowd: “We may do another little Epic Fury.” Epic Fury is the U.S. military’s name for its war on Iran. According to Reuters, he did not elaborate.
The remark landed as the war approaches its eight-month mark. The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and Iran responded with strikes on Israel and on Gulf states that host U.S. bases. Reuters reports that U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions, and the conflict has pushed oil and gas prices up around the world. CBS News reported that Brent crude hit $112 a barrel on Thursday, its highest level since May.
Earlier on Friday, Trump said the U.S. could end the war quickly, but questioned whether Washington should push for a swift conclusion or let the conflict gradually wind down. Earlier this month he had said the U.S. would not launch an attack on Iran before the November 3 elections. Meanwhile, CBS News reported that the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, warned the U.S. could “absolutely” strike Iran as soon as this weekend.
“They’ll raise up their hands”
Then, answering a question shouted from the crowd, Trump turned to Cuba. According to the Associated Press, he said U.S. warships coming home from the Iran war could make a stop near the island.
“We’ll do a little stopover. Actually, what we’re going to do with Cuba is, we’re going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We’ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They’ll raise up their hands. And then we’re going to send (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.”
It is not a new idea. The AP notes that Trump first floated it earlier this year and has previously suggested Cuba would “be next.” In May, he told reporters in the Oval Office that past presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades, but “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”
Moments after Trump spoke, Rubio posted on social media that “now is the time,” urging “those who seek to create positive change” in Cuba “to seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.”
Why it matters
Voters heading to the polls in just over a week have told pollsters they are worried about what the Iran war is doing to prices, from gas to groceries. Instead of a plan to end it, the president offered a rally crowd the prospect of more strikes on Iran and a show of force off the coast of a country 90 miles from Florida, delivered as applause lines.
Iran, for its part, is not backing down. CBS News reported that Iran’s armed forces chief of staff said Saturday that U.S. military ships would not be allowed in the Persian Gulf “under any circumstances.”
Control of Congress is on the ballot on November 3. Whether lawmakers will push back on a president openly musing about new military operations may depend on who holds the gavels next year.