Marco Rubio urged Cubans seeking political change in their country to act, saying “now is the time” moments after Donald Trump told a Friday rally for candidates in south Florida that US warships could intervene in Cuba on their way back from the Iran war.

The US secretary of state, in his social media post addressed “to those who seek to create positive change”, urged Cubans to capitalize on Trump’s plans. “The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete [sic] partnership with the CIA,” Rubio said.

The top US diplomat, whose parents left Cuba for the United States before the socialist revolution there, seemed to mistakenly use the word “discrete”, meaning separate, rather than “discreet”, meaning private or secret.

Trump first floated this idea earlier this year, but has not mentioned it in recent months. But he revived it in response to a shouted question from the crowd about the island nation. He was campaigning just days before midterm elections in which voters have expressed concern about the impact the US war on Iran has had on prices of goods from gas to groceries.

“We’ll do a little stopover,” Trump said. “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 Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.”

Rubio and Trump have been bullish on action in Cuba, with Trump previously suggesting the country would “be next” in terms of intervention abroad, following the winding down of the Iran war he has long forecast but which has not yet happened.

In May, he and Rubio raised the specter of US military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that took on greater weight after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that previous US presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it”.

Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba had been a national security threat for years because of its ties to US adversaries and that Trump was intent on addressing it. While saying the Trump administration wanted to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully, Rubio voiced doubts that the US could reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government.

Rubio has not addressed Cuba in depth in public for several weeks, with his last comments coming in a 29 September interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“The truth is Cuba has already fallen. It doesn’t have a functional economy and it’s governed by people who continue to preach about some revolution that has been dead for 20 years that’s never worked,” Rubio said, without alluding to any CIA operation.

“We are hopeful that Cuba will choose a different path. We are hopeful … that there will be some people in there that open their eyes to the reality of what they’re facing. We’re never going to allow Cuba to become a base of operation against American interests or pose a threat to our national security. On that we are abundantly clear.”

Rubio and other top Trump aides have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But the US side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government.

During his address to the United Nations general assembly last month, Trump said Rubio – son of Cuban immigrants, who has long taken a hard line against Cuba’s socialist leadership – was “deep into negotiations with Cuba”, saying he would “not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep”.

Days later, Trump told reporters that he anticipated that the two countries “will make a deal”, adding: “I don’t think we’ll need the military. Cuba is failing very badly.”

Earlier this week, the two countries clashed at the United Nations as the Trump administration sought once again to build opposition for an upcoming annual vote condemning Washington’s decades-long economic embargo against Havana.

Cuba has struggled since 2020 with an economic and energy crisis. Its gross domestic product has shrunk , and its 10 million residents have endured blackouts, food shortages and inflation. There have been waves of protests, and hundreds of thousands of Cubans have immigrated, many to the United States.