President Donald Trump said he does not expect the United States to need military force against Cuba and predicted the two countries would “make a deal,” in comments that came a day after CBS News reported that the Pentagon was laying the groundwork for possible operations on the island.

Asked whether any military action was planned, Trump told reporters Saturday: “I would say that Cuba and us will make a deal. I don’t think we’ll need the military.

“Cuba is failing very badly,” he added. “We want to help Cuba. We want to open Cuba up to our people. We have great Cuban Americans who want to go back. We want to open Cuba up to our people.”

On Sunday, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, told C-SPAN that it would be an “atrocious international crime for the U.S. to use military force against Cuba.”

He added that Cuba recognizes it might stand alone in case of a military attack, but would still exercise its right to self-defense, in a surprisingly candid statement about the muted response of Cuba’s traditional allies, mainly Russia and China, to the U.S. pressure campaign.

CBS News reported Friday that the U.S. Army Reserve is examining whether it can provide U.S. Southern Command with police forces, medical personnel and other support units within the next four months, according to an internal Army message. CBS said the message does not mention Cuba. But multiple U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, told CBS the request is part of continued military planning involving Cuba.

CBS said there is no indication that any units have received deployment orders. CBS previously reported in July that military planners had examined options including an Army-led air assault by the 101st Airborne Division. Officials stressed at the time that no final decision had been made.

Experts say the military always plans for different types of contingencies. “What seems to be the case is that the planning is around military assets that would support some type of humanitarian response or intervention,” said Brian Fonseca, Vice Provost for Defense and National Security Research at Florida International University.

Fonseca says leaks about military planning aim to pressure the Cuban government into making more concessions. “It is also meant to send a message to the domestic constituency that has expectations of change right before the midterm elections.”

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly last week, Trump said his administration is seeking “a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba” and predicted that the country “will fall.”

“It’s an absolutely failed state,” Trump said.

In his C-SPAN interview, Fernández de Cossío rejected Trump’s description.

“Cuba is a country under aggression, not a failed state,” he said. He called U.S. economic measures, including a fuel cutoff, “equivalent to a genocide.” He also said diplomatic channels with Washington remain open but have produced little results because of ongoing sanctions. Havana is willing to engage only on terms that respect its sovereignty, he said.

Also last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio again pitched a deal to Cuba, telling Cuban authorities to seize “a golden opportunity” to change the country for good if they begin taking measures that would put the country on a path to “political and economic freedom.” He said the U.S. government is ready to help and could work with Cuban insiders whose hands were not “stained in blood,” but cautioned that change would take time.

Rubio “is looking for a negotiated strategy here,” Fonseca said. “He’s also not looking for a quick, disruptive change. He said over the summer, don’t expect change to happen now. It’s going to be by the end of the administration. So he’s trying to set expectations. I think that’s part of the domestic issue at play, setting expectations among the South Florida constituency, which is ardently Republican, ahead of the election.”

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