{"id":2015,"date":"2026-06-07T16:07:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T16:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2015"},"modified":"2026-06-07T16:07:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T16:07:57","slug":"can-marco-rubio-convince-trump-that-a-free-cuba-is-america-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2015","title":{"rendered":"Can Marco Rubio convince Trump that a free Cuba is America First?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div> <div>\n<button>\n<strong>\n<span><svg>\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<span>Summary<\/span>\n<\/strong>\n<span><svg><\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<span><svg><\/svg>\n<\/span>\n<\/button>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Secretary of State Marco Rubio is navigating the most volatile moment in US-Cuba relations in decades.<\/li>\n<li>The administration has imposed a fuel blockade, sent the CIA director to Havana with an ultimatum and indicted former Cuban President Ra\u00fal Castro.<\/li>\n<li>Rubio faces a difficult balance between his lifelong goal of a free Cuba and Trump&#8217;s desire for a &#8220;good deal.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<span>AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            In the final days of his 2016 presidential campaign, then-Sen. Marco Rubio stood before a friendly Miami debate crowd and named his baseline for any negotiations with Cuba: free elections, a free press and free speech for the 11 million people living on the island. The GOP front-runner, Donald Trump, offered something much vaguer \u2014 an unspecific pledge to work out \u201ca good deal\u201d with the Castro regime.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2001\">GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan is raising alarms about an 11th hour challenger: Dan J. Sullivan<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Rubio ridiculed the answer. The crowd roared.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Now, as secretary of state, Rubio is navigating the most volatile moment in US-Cuba relations in decades on behalf of the man he once mocked. For months, Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has teamed with Trump to pressure Cuba\u2019s leaders to the negotiating table while trying to hasten conditions for their ouster.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            A fuel blockade has left Cubans with rolling blackouts ahead of the sweltering summer months. Last month in Havana, CIA Director John Ratcliffe delivered a rare in-person ultimatum to Cuban officials to enact political changes. Five days later, the Justice Department indicted former President Ra\u00fal Castro. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group is close by in the Caribbean.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            On Thursday, the US piled on more pressure, imposing sanctions on Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canal, his wife and stepson; family members of Ra\u00fal Castro; and several organizations it asserted were tied to the Cuban government.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            It remains an open question whether Rubio will achieve the liberated Cuba he has sought for most of his life, or whether the moment will end, as others have, with what Trump deems \u201ca good deal.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Rubio arrives in Budapest, Hungary, in February.\" class=\"wp-image-2009\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/37d1fbf86a16b366170baf2724ebc59e.jpg\" width=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/37d1fbf86a16b366170baf2724ebc59e.jpg 683w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/37d1fbf86a16b366170baf2724ebc59e-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Rubio arrives in Budapest, Hungary, in February.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Alex Brandon\/Pool\/Reuters<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            There is growing frustration within the White House over how difficult it has proved to force the island\u2019s regime into making major concessions. And Trump has recently expressed doubt about forcing a change in the Cuban government, telling reporters last month when pressed about specifics of a potential deal, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know about changing the regime.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            On Thursday, Trump vowed to eventually turn his full attention to Cuba \u2014 though it would have to wait until he first finds a resolution to the Iran war that\u2019s eluded him for months.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWe\u2019re going to handle that as soon as we finish. I like to do one thing at a time,\u201d he said. \u201cAs soon as that\u2019s done, on our way back, we\u2019ll just make a little brief stop.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Meanwhile in South Florida, where more than 1 million Cuban Americans reside, hope is surging for a Cuba without a Castro in power.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cI think we all can envision what we want Cuba to look like, and it doesn\u2019t have to happen overnight,\u201d Rubio said Wednesday in testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThe United States is open to a negotiated situation that puts Cuba on a path towards democracy, prosperity, freedom, normalcy. We would be open to that, and we would work with whoever is open to doing it,\u201d Rubio told lawmakers.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cObviously, it will be challenging,\u201d he said.\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        A potentially defining moment\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            The pressure campaign on Cuba is just the latest audacious effort to reshape global diplomacy undertaken by Rubio, who has become a primary driver behind Trump\u2019s sprawling and at-times chaotic foreign policy agenda.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            A career politician who has long harbored presidential ambitions, Rubio\u2019s unlikely alliance with Trump \u2014 who once derided him as \u201cLiddle Marco\u201d \u2014 has granted him broad power within the administration, and numerous job titles to go with it.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            In addition to secretary of state, Rubio is acting national security adviser, making him the first to hold both jobs since Henry Kissinger. From those perches, the 55-year-old Rubio has played a central role in Trump\u2019s forays into Iran and Venezuela, while also managing increasingly tenuous relations with the US\u2019 allies in Europe and with its chief rival, China.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Yet Cuba is his most personal challenge yet. And as Rubio plots another potential run for the presidency in 2028, it\u2019s the one whose success or failure could most closely define him.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Rubio grew up steeped in Cuba\u2019s history, and he has credited the exile community with shaping his hawkish worldview. That community\u2019s aspirations are now largely resting on his shoulders \u2014 but so are the demands of a president who has expressed fleeting interest in wholesale regime change.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThis is the golden ring for Marco Rubio. This is what he has dreamed about, both personally and professionally,\u201d said Lawrence Gumbiner, who led the US Embassy in Havana during Trump\u2019s first term. \u201cI think he realizes he\u2019s got to dance around his boss, President Trump, and the expectations of the (Cuban) diaspora, and the reality.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Discussions between South Florida business and community leaders \u2014 including longtime Rubio supporters and allies \u2014 have intensified as they consider how they might help rebuild Cuba should the regime topple. The State Department has been in contact with some about assisting with humanitarian efforts if needed, a person with knowledge of the discussions said.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<header>\n<span>\n      Related card\n    <\/span>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"XPL00033 Cuba Prepares All Access Horizontal with series logo.png\" class=\"wp-image-2010\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4e0b8c38cff389ffdc15f0cb8d814d98.png\" width=\"256\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n<span>Here\u2019s what\u2019s going on in Havana as Cubans prepare for a potential US invasion<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Steve Bovo, the former mayor of Hialeah, Florida, and a close ally of Trump and Rubio, told CNN he has warned local officials that regime change could generate some domestic chaos if Cuban Americans on the mainland rush to rescue people or deliver humanitarian aide by boat.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThe fact that Rubio is there in the thick of it is probably what gives everyone in the exile community a lot of calm,\u201d said Bovo, the son of a Bay of Pigs veteran.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Bovo, whose wife is a longtime Rubio aide, also acknowledged the angst within his community as the US and Cuba near a tipping point. \u201cThere would be a massive disappointment if by the end of Trump administration there isn\u2019t a degree of change in Cuba that is either a straight line to total freedom or total freedom,\u201d Bovo said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Many who have watched Cuba policy up close, though, are skeptical the hopes of the exile community \u2014 and Rubio himself \u2014 can co-exist with Trump\u2019s limited appetite for a protracted foreign engagement<s>.<\/s>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cIf Rubio wants a diplomatic, negotiated outcome,\u201d said Juan Gonzalez, senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden, then, \u201che\u2019s going to have to betray his political base in South Florida.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Gonzalez acknowledged regime change in Cuba would be \u201chistoric,\u201d but noted that the stakes for Rubio are incredibly high.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cIf (Rubio) pulls it off, it will potentially launch him nationally as a broader political figure, whereas I think up to now he\u2019s still been seen as a Florida politician,\u201d Gonzalez said, adding that the opportunity also carries real political risk. \u201cSo for him, this is table stakes. If this is a mess, he\u2019s done.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        Rubio running point on Cuba\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            Within the administration, Rubio has emerged as Trump\u2019s key adviser on the Western Hemisphere. It\u2019s as close as he\u2019s come to the role he envisioned as a boy, when he \u201cboasted I would someday lead an army of exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro and become president of a free Cuba,\u201d he wrote in his memoir, \u201cAn American Son.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Rubio was also a trusted voice on the region for the White House during Trump\u2019s first term. \u201cThen-Sen. Rubio\u2019s imprint was visible across the administration\u2019s approach to Cuba and Venezuela,\u201d a person close to Rubio told CNN.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            As with the majority of Trump\u2019s foreign policy priorities, the team working on Cuba has been small. Rubio, who spends much of his time at the White House, has a tight cadre of aides working on the issue, including several from his years in the Senate. Within the administration and at the State Department, Cuba policy is largely shaped by political appointees. However, career ambassador Mike Hammer has remained on the ground as the US charge d\u2019affaires in Havana.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            In March, Rubio acknowledged his principal role in the work, telling reporters, \u201cany reporting on Cuba that you didn\u2019t get from me or the president is a liar, because those are the only people working on it.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            After toppling Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s regime, Trump officials sought to quickly capitalize on their newfound influence in the country to weaken Cuba by disrupting the flow of Venezuelan oil to the island and pressuring Mexico to slow its own oil deliveries.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The administration has increasingly turned its sights on the military conglomerate that controls much of Cuba\u2019s economy, and Rubio on Wednesday said the US is \u201copen to an arrangement that allows\u201d revenue to begin to flow to the Cuban people.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1993\">Your brain can start changing after just two minutes of this mental practice<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A gas station in Havana, Cuba on May 2.\" class=\"wp-image-2011\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9d625c1bb8d021a573a3c2c77d18b221-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9d625c1bb8d021a573a3c2c77d18b221-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9d625c1bb8d021a573a3c2c77d18b221-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9d625c1bb8d021a573a3c2c77d18b221.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>A gas station in Havana, Cuba on May 2.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Lisette Poole\/The New York Times\/Redux<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Despite crushing economic sanctions and the threat of military action, Cuba\u2019s leadership has refused to negotiate a quick deal, attempting instead to outlast Trump\u2019s enthusiasm for yet another foreign entanglement and keep its grip on power. Cuba\u2019s foreign minister recently dismissed the notion that Cuba is a threat to the US and said in a post on X that Havana is \u201copen to dialogue to resolve bilateral issues, based on respect for our sovereignty, our constitutional order, and our political system.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            One former State Department official noted that the Cuban government has historically moved into \u201csiege mentality\u201d when faced with US pressure.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThere\u2019s so much more that\u2019s required for political change in Cuba,\u201d said Frank Mora, the former US ambassador to the Organization of American States during the Biden administration.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly praised Rubio in a statement as \u201cinstrumental in executing the President\u2019s foreign policy agenda to protect our homeland from threats in the region.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            But despite asserting the so-called Donroe Doctrine that Trump has claimed to reassert American influence across the Western Hemisphere, she stopped short of promising major political change in Cuba.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cAs the President stated, Cuba is a failed country that has been horribly run for many years,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cThe United States will be there to help, but its flailing leaders should make a deal with the United States before it is too late.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Cuba\u2019s government has said it\u2019s open to negotiations with the US but will not bend to pressure to remake the island\u2019s single-party communist form of government. Cuban officials have told CNN that they feel Rubio\u2019s personal animus to Havana is stymying any possible deal.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Cuban government social media accounts have also posted parody videos of a puppet doll version of Rubio called \u201cthe blond worm,\u201d a combination of Rubio\u2019s last name, which means blond in Spanish, and a highly offensive epithet that Fidel Castro hurled at Cubans who fled the island after his 1959 revolution.\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        The risks of regime change in Cuba\n<\/h2>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"People use their phones for light while playing dominoes as a fire set by residents protesting prolonged power outages burns on a street in Havana, Cuba, on May 14.\" class=\"wp-image-2012\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a7961d64557ed7fb30fd05c0fab5907c-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a7961d64557ed7fb30fd05c0fab5907c-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a7961d64557ed7fb30fd05c0fab5907c-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a7961d64557ed7fb30fd05c0fab5907c.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>People use their phones for light while playing dominoes as a fire set by residents protesting prolonged power outages burns on a street in Havana, Cuba, on May 14.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Ramon Espinosa\/AP<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            With the Iran war dragging on, top Trump political aides are eager to turn the president\u2019s attention back to domestic issues ahead of November\u2019s midterms \u2014 even as the president appears to be digging in, warning recently that Tehran\u2019s efforts to outlast him won\u2019t work because he doesn\u2019t \u201ccare about the midterms.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Within the administration, there are indications that the US intends to ratchet up its economic and political pressure campaign against Havana. Officials have also contemplated a range of potential military actions against Cuba, former diplomats and others close to the White House said. But they all come with major risks and no guarantee of generating a quick victory.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Carrying out a Venezuela-style raid in Cuba is viewed as a far more complicated proposition with less upside; Castro is nearly 95, and there\u2019s little assurance that capturing him would weaken a regime that\u2019s kept an iron grip on power for decades. There is also no equivalent to Delcy Rodr\u00edguez \u2014 the US-backed interim leader of Venezuela \u2014 in the Cuban system, experts say.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Rubio on Wednesday said there are \u201cpeople within the technocratic realm of the government that could play some role in all of this.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cBut ultimately, if you\u2019re asking me, is there a singular individual right now that we would trust and rely on to lead this transition from start to finish? I can\u2019t give you that name right now,\u201d he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Some Republican lawmakers eager to pry open Cuba\u2019s political and economic system have pressed Rubio and the administration to mount such an operation anyway.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cLook at Venezuela,\u201d Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, a daughter of Cuban exiles, said following Castro\u2019s indictment. \u201cI do believe we should follow that example.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Even that outcome \u2014 a successful change in leadership, but without a timetable for elections and liberation for the island\u2019s residents \u2014 risks falling short of the vision embraced by a Cuban American community that is close to Rubio and has overwhelmingly supported Trump across his three elections.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cYou\u2019ve got the Rubio team and the Cuban Americans who have a real, serious, deep objective Cuba,\u201d said Ricardo Z\u00fa\u00f1iga, a former longtime senior State Department official. \u201cAnd you have the president, who just wants to win \u2014 and he doesn\u2019t care what that win looks like.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Trump\u2019s willingness to strike quickly to remove the political leadership in Venezuela and Iran has emboldened Cuban exiles to imagine a similar fate for Castro, said Jorge Duany, a longtime chronicler of the diaspora at Florida International University\u2019s Cuban Research Institute. Surveys of Cuban Americans increasingly show support for a US military intervention to liberate the island, he said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThere\u2019s a sense of desperation since nothing has worked to produce significant change on the island,\u201d Duany said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Expectations are now so high that a failure to meet them could be politically damaging.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cYou will see a huge exodus of Cuban Americans from Republican Party, or at least from Trump\u2019s party,\u201d said Marcell Felipe, a prominent Cuban American businessman and chairman of the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora. \u201cIt would be political suicide.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Felipe, like many other Cubans living in the US, wants to see the release of political prisoners and for the country to more closely resemble its Caribbean neighbors like the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Yordanis Diaz Candelario joins others for a Free Cuba rally that brought together political leaders, activists, artists, and community members on March 24 in Hialeah, Florida.\" class=\"wp-image-2013\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a08595214df255f9eba0391ffdbbfe8d-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a08595214df255f9eba0391ffdbbfe8d-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a08595214df255f9eba0391ffdbbfe8d-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a08595214df255f9eba0391ffdbbfe8d.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Yordanis Diaz Candelario joins others for a Free Cuba rally that brought together political leaders, activists, artists, and community members on March 24 in Hialeah, Florida.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Joe Raedle\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            However, some have argued that Trump has built up enough goodwill within the diaspora that they would be willing to accept a transitional period where some from the former regime remain in place.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThere\u2019s a segment of the exile community that will tolerate nothing but a Castro hanging from the highest tree possible,\u201d Bovo said. \u201cNow, there may have to be some sort of bitter juice to swallow.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        Eyes toward 2028\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            It\u2019s a daunting tight rope for Rubio, not only as the country\u2019s chief diplomat and as a Cuban American but also as someone increasingly viewed as a future GOP presidential contender. In private conversations, Trump has compared Rubio with Vice President JD Vance as he mulls his potential heirs, CNN previously reported. Vance has publicly joked he and Rubio are contestants on the latest version of \u201cThe Apprentice.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Rubio has impressed many potential Republican primary voters with how he has stepped onto the world stage, even as a growing number of them express frustration with Trump\u2019s continued focus on foreign priorities. But that could change if the situation in Iran doesn\u2019t improve or if Venezuela crumbles under the instability left by Maduro\u2019s ouster.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Nor does his improved standing account for Rubio becoming the face of another unpopular foreign intervention. Americans already overwhelmingly disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of Cuba, according to a March Associated Press-NORC poll. And 78% of Americans \u2014 including 6 in 10 Republicans \u2014 oppose using US troops to overthrow the Cuban government, a survey from Ipsos and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"President Donald Trump gives an interview, attended by Vice President JD Vance, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, in the Oval Office of the White House in January.\" class=\"wp-image-2014\" height=\"513\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d021c404566a81b75e594b4686bed3f4-768x513.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d021c404566a81b75e594b4686bed3f4-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d021c404566a81b75e594b4686bed3f4-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d021c404566a81b75e594b4686bed3f4.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>President Donald Trump gives an interview, attended by Vice President JD Vance, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, in the Oval Office of the White House in January.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Doug Mills\/The New York Times\/Redux<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Felipe is optimistic Rubio remains committed to the vision for Cuba he outlined a decade ago as a presidential contender. He has less faith in others within Trump\u2019s inner circle who have urged the president to reorient his administration around domestic affairs.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThat\u2019s exactly where his political enemies would like to put Rubio \u2014 in a position where he has to choose between Trump\u2019s good graces or his people\u2019s good graces,\u201d Felipe said. \u201cIf he has to choose between one of those, his political future will be damaged. I think that\u2019s something his political rivals and competitors and the Castro regime would like to see happen.\u201d\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=1991\">DOJ debunks social media claim of discrepancy in LA mayor voting count<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>CNN\u2019s Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has been a primary driver of President Trump\u2019s foreign policy. But Cuba is his most personal challenge yet. And as he plots another potential run for the presidency in 2028, it\u2019s the one whose success or failure could most closely define him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can Marco Rubio convince Trump that a free Cuba is America First? - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2015\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Marco Rubio convince Trump that a free Cuba is America First? - Relocation Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has been a primary driver of President Trump\u2019s foreign policy. 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