In a 90-minute speech in Fort Myers, Trump repeated more military action against Iran may lie ahead as he tries to address the causes of a spike in oil prices that has put Republicans on the defensive ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
With an eye toward the senior Americans who live in Florida, Trump said he planned to spend $US250 million to hire at least 5000 new nurses in aged care facilities across America.
Trump talked tough about Cuba, part of a pattern of putting pressure on the communist government there after ousting the leader of Venezuela early this year.
Trump, who won 68 per cent of the Cuban American vote in Florida in the 2024 election, said American naval forces from Iran will stop at Cuba on the way home.
"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," he said.
Secretary of State Rubio, a former US senator from Florida, has been handling much of the Cuba-related policy for Trump.
"To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time," Rubio said on X on Friday, urging those disappointed by Cuba's government "to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA."
His post did not elaborate.
Trump's rally was intended to boost the electoral prospects of Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds, who is running for governor against Democrat David Jolly.
Donalds told Trump he was proud to support his presidential campaigns.
The congressman has carefully navigated the economic realities of Trump's second presidency. He hasn't blamed Trump for inflation but he's built his general election bid around a promise to address Floridians' economic struggles.
Even standing next to the president, he promised to make Florida "more affordable."
Trump's speech, the latest in a near-daily blitz of campaign rallies in largely friendly areas, rambled from topic to topic such as the size of his crowds and his White House renovations.
This weekend, Trump's midterm campaign blitz heads to Georgia and Michigan, home of two of the most closely watched Senate races in the US.
with AP
16°C