Obama planning historic trip to Cuba to cement warmer ties

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is planning an historic visit to Cuba in the coming weeks, senior Obama administration officials said Wednesday, becoming the first president to step foot on the island in nearly nine decades.

Obama's brief visit will be part of a broader trip to Latin America the White House will announce today, said the officials, who requested anonymity because the trip hasn't been officially announced. The visit is expected to take place in mid-March, one official said.

Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced in late 2014 they would begin normalizing ties after a half-century of Cold War opposition. The Obama administration is eager to make rapid progress on building trade and diplomatic ties with Cuba before Obama leaves office.

The two nations signed a deal Tuesday restoring commercial air traffic for the first time in five decades. Immediately after signing the commercial flights deal, the U.S. Department of Transportation opened bidding by American air carriers on as many as 110 U.S.-Cuba flights a day -- more than five times the current number. All flights operating between the two countries today are charters.

ABC News first reported Wednesday the White House planned to announce the trip today.

President Calvin Coolidge went to Havana in January 1928 to give a speech to the sixth International Conference of American States, according to the State Department historian's office, which records the foreign travel of presidents and secretaries of state.

President Harry Truman visited Guantanamo Bay, which is controlled by the United States, so that was not considered a state visit; he didn't meet with any Cuban government officials, according to his presidential library.

Former president Jimmy Carter has paid several visits to the island since leaving office.