Donald Trump‘s military is lining up battlefield surgeons, military police and combat engineers for a potential operation against Cuba within the next four months.
US Army Reserve headquarters sent an internal message last week asking its commands whether they could hand six types of units over to Southern Command, which oversees American forces in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The memo does not mention Cuba, but multiple US officials said the planning is aimed squarely at the communist island, according to CBS News, which obtained the document.
The units would ‘possibly [be] needed in 90-120 days’, the memo states, opening a potential deployment window around Christmas. Commands were given until Friday to respond.
Among the units requested is a forward resuscitative and surgical detachment, a small team that performs emergency surgery and trauma care on wounded troops close to the fighting.
There is no indication any units have been given deployment orders, and the message does not say how many troops would be needed, where they would go or what operation they would support.
Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that Cuba’s communist government ‘will fall’ and ‘freedom will be coming’, after US special forces snatched Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro from Caracas in January.
The Cuban delegation stormed out of the hall as the president made the veiled threat. Trump added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was ‘deep into negotiations’ with Havana.
Donald Trump holds a meeting in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington, June 21, 2025
Cuban soldiers take part in the Torchlight March on the 173rd anniversary of National Hero Jose Marti (a leader of Cuba’s independence from Spain and founder of the Cuban Revolutionary Party) in Havana on January 27
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel waves a national flag during celebrations marking the victory on the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the declaration of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution in Havana on April 16
Hegseth visiting Guantanamo Bay in February
The memo also asks for a medical brigade to direct units in the field, and a military police brigade, whose units typically handle security, detention and law enforcement missions.
Also on the list are an engineer battalion, a logistics battalion that manages transport, fuel, maintenance and supplies, and an expeditionary sustainment command to run logistics across an entire theater of operations.
A Southern Command spokesperson said: ‘Due to operational security concerns, we do not disclose details or comment on US operational movements or potential deployment timelines associated with current or future operations, contingencies, or planning.
‘However, US Southern Command continuously coordinates with the Joint Force to assess a range of potential requirements across its [area of responsibility] in support of assigned missions.’
The planning comes as Trump pursues what officials have dubbed the ‘Donroe Doctrine’, a muscular push to drive adversaries out of America’s backyard.
The administration hit Cuban officials and entities with fresh sanctions days before his UN speech, including military-linked firms tied to the island’s nickel industry.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in March that he believed he would have ‘the honor of taking Cuba‘.
US special forces snatched Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro from Caracas in January
The Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kazan, part of the Russian naval detachment visiting Cuba, arrives at Havana’s harbor, June 12, 2024
‘Taking Cuba in some form, yeah,’ he said. ‘I think I could do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth.’ Later that month, he declared: ‘Cuba’s going to be next.’
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has vowed to fight back against any US attack and accused Washington of ‘aggression’ and ‘economic warfare’ for choking off the island’s oil imports.
Military planners have also examined an air assault on the island by thousands of troops from the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for the task, CBS News reported in July. Officials emphasized no decision had been made.
Another US military operation may seem far-fetched with conflicts raging in Iran and Ukraine, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has admitted his government is also prepared for a US invasion.
‘I think you have a responsibility in these roles to look at extreme tail risk,’ Carney, 61, told the New York Times on Wednesday. ‘That’s just risk management. That’s not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to.’
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