WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump reposted a social media message suggesting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, born to Cuban immigrant parents, would become the next leader of Cuba.
Trump republished on his Truth Social platform a message from X user Cliff Smith on January 8 that read: “Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba,” accompanied by a crying laughing emoji.
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“Sounds good to me!” Trump commented in his repost.
The largely unknown user, whose bio refers to him as a “conservative Californian,” has less than 500 followers on X.
Trump’s repost comes a week after US forces seized Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro in an overnight operation in Caracas that killed dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security forces.
Cuba’s communist government has yet to directly respond to the US president’s provocative suggestion that an American citizen could rule the island.
But shortly after Trump’s post, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez insisted “right and justice are on Cuba’s side.”
The United States “behaves like an out-of-control criminal hegemon that threatens peace and security, not only in Cuba and this hemisphere, but throughout the entire world,” Rodriguez posted on X.
Trump meanwhile urged Cuba to “make a deal” soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana’s key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The threatening social media post drew an angry retort from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who said “no one” would tell his country what to do.
Cuba’s president rebuffed Trump’s threatening language, saying the Caribbean island’s residents were “ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”
“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one tells us what to do,” Diaz-Canel wrote on X.
Washington has imposed economy-crippling sanctions on its island neighbor for decades, but Trump has ramped up the pressure in recent days. US Special Forces seized Maduro and his wife this month in a lightning raid that left dozens of the ousted Venezuelan president’s security personnel dead—many of whom were Cuban.
Though Maduro’s allies have become interim leaders, Trump has claimed the United States now actually controls Venezuela, through a US naval blockade of its vital oil sector.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said Sunday morning on his Truth Social platform. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
He said “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
“Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week’s U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.”
Trump provided almost no details about what potential deal he referred to, or what such an arrangement would achieve.
Asked about it later Sunday, Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One that he wanted people forced out of Cuba or who “left under duress” to be taken care of.
“Most importantly, right now, we’re going to take care of the people that came from Cuba, that are American citizens, or in our country,” Trump said, without clarifying how this would be achieved under a deal with Havana.
A week ago, Trump stated that “Cuba is ready to fall,” noting that the island’s economic crisis was worsening and it would be difficult for Havana to “hold out” without receiving heavily subsidised Venezuelan oil.
A Cold War-era US trade embargo has cinched Cuba’s economy beginning in 1962, and since 2000 Havana increasingly has relied on Venezuelan oil provided as part of a deal struck with Maduro’s predecessor, the firebrand leftist Hugo Chavez.
Some Republican US lawmakers lauded Trump for his aggressive comments on Cuba, including congressman Mario Diaz-Balart from Florida.
“The tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump,” Diaz-Balart posted in Spanish on X, “and Cuba will finally be free after decades of misery, tragedy, and pain.”
