Rubio doubtful – President Donald Trump again warned that he may be the one to use military force in Cuba, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington prefers a negotiated deal but doubts it can happen with the island’s current government. The renewed rhetoric comes a
When President Donald Trump talked about Cuba on Thursday, he did it the way he often frames the world: bluntly, with a deadline of sorts—maybe him, maybe force.
Asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. Trump said previous presidents had considered intervening for decades. adding that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.” “Other presidents have looked at this for 50. 60 years. doing something. ” Trump told reporters. “And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it.”.
Hours later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a less theatrical, but no less pointed message—one that landed with particular weight in Washington because it came just a day after the administration announced criminal charges against Cuba’s former leader, Raúl Castro.
Rubio told reporters that Cuba has been a national security threat for years. in part because of its ties to U.S. adversaries. He said the administration wants to address those threats. ideally through diplomacy. but he acknowledged skepticism about whether a negotiated agreement is even realistic with the Cuban government as it exists now.
“The U.S. prefers a negotiated agreement with Cuba. ” Rubio said in Miami before boarding a plane to attend a NATO meeting in Sweden and then visit India. “Trump’s ‘preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful. That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba,’” he said. Then he followed it with the sentence that did the real work: “I’m just being honest with you. you know. the likelihood of that happening. given who we’re dealing with right now. is not high.”.
That “not high” is the opening Rubio left for the part of the conversation Washington has been circling for months: the possibility of force. When asked whether the U.S. would use force in Cuba to change the island’s political system, Rubio repeated the U.S. preference for a diplomatic settlement—but added a reminder that the president holds the power to override any diplomatic track. “The president always has the option to do whatever it takes to support and protect the national interest,” Rubio said.
He also pushed back on a reporter’s suggestion that such language sounded like “nation-building,” insisting he was talking about national security risk rather than an effort to remake Cuba from the outside.
The pressure has intensified alongside those statements. Top Trump aides—including Rubio. CIA chief John Ratcliffe. and other senior national security officials—have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. But Rubio said the U.S. side has come away “unimpressed. ” a posture that has coincided with even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government in the past week.
Rubio portrayed Havana as waiting out Washington’s moves. Over the years, he said, Cuba has gotten used to “buying time and waiting us out.” Then he made his warning sharper: “They’re not going to be able to wait us out or buy time. We’re very serious, we’re very focused.”
That emphasis matters because it runs into new legal pressure—pressure that arrives with a long fuse and a fresh spark.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors unveiled an indictment accusing Raúl Castro of ordering the shootdown in 1996 of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. The charges, which were secretly filed by a grand jury in April, included murder and destruction of an airplane.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the indictment as a political stunt meant to justify “the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”
The Castro indictment is already shaping how many observers view the administration’s Cuba playbook. The expectation is that this is not only about the past. but about laying groundwork for what comes next—especially after the way the Trump administration moved earlier this year against Nicolás Maduro. In early January, the U.S. captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation. Maduro has been imprisoned in the U.S. since his seizure and faces federal drug trafficking charges; he has pleaded not guilty.
The administration’s messaging around force has also been timed to key moments. The U.S. military touted the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and accompanying ships to the Caribbean Sea on the same day the charges against Castro were announced. U.S. Southern Command said the ships are taking part in maritime exercises with partners in Latin America that began in March.
Rubio declined to discuss how the U.S. might move to implement the indictment against Castro, who turns 95 next month.
Alongside the legal and military signals, the administration has been tightening Cuba’s economic constraints. Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since ousting Maduro and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. The result. according to the administration’s critics and the broader description of the crisis on the island. has been severe blackouts. food shortages. and an economic collapse across Cuba.
This month, the Trump administration also slapped new sanctions on Cuba. The largest of them is against Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.
On Thursday, Rubio announced a further step aimed at the personal ties of the Cuban military-linked business class. He said the sister of the GAESA executive president. who was living in the U.S. had her green card revoked and been arrested. Rubio said she is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Rubio framed the move as a break from a past tolerance for elite families living comfortably while repression continued. In a statement. he said: “Past Administrations have permitted the families of Cuban military elites. Iranian terrorists and other reprehensible organizations to enjoy lavish lifestyles in our country funded by stolen blood-money. while the people they repress at home suffer in increasingly dire circumstances. No longer.”.
Still, the question hanging over the U.S. approach is whether pressure and punishment are meant to force change—or to create conditions for something more overt.
Trump has ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging to conduct a “friendly takeover” of the country if its leadership did not open its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries. Thursday’s comments from Rubio put the threat front and center again: he said Cuba poses a serious national security threat to America because of its security and intelligence ties with China and Russia and friendly relations with U.S. foes in Latin America.
That is a view Washington appears to expect its opponents to challenge.
China, which opposes U.S. sanctions and pressure on Cuba, pushed back in language designed to sound both diplomatic and firm. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Guo Jiakun. said Thursday: “China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference. ” Guo added.
Cuba Marco Rubio Donald Trump Raúl Castro indictment USS Nimitz GAESA sanctions military action diplomacy China Russia Miguel Díaz-Canel John Ratcliffe
So we’re just gonna act like invading Cuba is like, a scheduled thing now?
Rubio says “negotiated deal” but then everyone’s acting like force is gonna happen. Sounds like they want a reason to say it was necessary.
Wait I thought Trump already tried to do something with Cuba like last year? Or is this about Florida politics? The whole “deadline—maybe me” line is wild though.
This is probably why nothing ever gets better. They keep blaming Cuba’s government like it’s one person, and then they threaten military stuff and act surprised it doesn’t get negotiated. Also I didn’t even finish the article but the headline says “doubtful of diplomacy” so yeah, sounds bad.