On January 3, 2026, President Trump approved an operation to go into Venezuela and arrest that country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on drug charges. It was an old-fashioned coup, in which Trump embraced and later made an oil deal with a different remnant of Maduro’s regime.
The operation was drama-free enough that it almost certainly emboldened Trump to invade Iran the following month, in an operation that hasn’t gone nearly as smoothly.
A joint team consisting of F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force flight test members, U.S. Sailors and Marines, and the crew of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Izumo-class multi-functional destroyer JS Kaga (DDH-184) are executing developmental sea trials in the eastern Pacific Ocean to gather the necessary data to certify F-35B Lightning II short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft operations. While aboard the MSDF’s largest ship, the Pax ITF flight test team has been gathering compatibility data for analysis in order to make recommendations for future F-35B operational envelopes, further enhancing the Japanese navy’s capabilities. The results of the testing will contribute to improved interoperability between Japan and the United States, strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. alliance and contributing to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan is an F-35 Joint Program Office foreign military sales customer planning to purchase 42 F-35Bs. The F-35 Joint Program Office continues to develop, produce, and sustain the F-35 Air System to fulfill its mandate to deliver a capable, available, and affordable air system with fifth-generation capabilities.
U.S. Navy Lt. Dave Hinkle, F-35C Lightning II Demonstration Pilot, performs during the 2021 Atlanta Air Show, Atlanta Regional Airport-Falcon Field, Ga., May 23, 2021. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ carrier variant has larger wings and more robust landing gear than the other F-35 variants, making it suitable for catapult launches and fly-in arrestments aboard naval aircraft carriers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Thomas Barley)
Might Trump try something similar, in the next few years, with Cuba? And if he does, will it look more like Venezuela, or Iran?
A Cuban Move
Famously, a succession of U.S. presidents spent much of the Cold War trying to get Fidel Castro out of power, and none succeeded. Castro resigned in 2008 and died in 2016, but the regime he built has long outlived him.
But President Donald Trump, this week, openly mused about wanting to overthrow the Cuban regime before he leaves office.
According to Al Jazeera, the comments came this week in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Asked if he would consider “freeing Cuba,” Trump answered that “I want to get Cuba done before I leave.” He went on to call Cuba “essentially a failed … place, nation, whatever you wanna call it.”
Trump added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is himself Cuban-American, “would love to do it.”
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) cruise side-by-side in the Philippine Sea June 18, 2006, during exercise Valiant Shield 2006. The joint exercise consists of 28 naval vessels, more than 300 aircraft, and approximately 20,000 service members from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer’s Mate Spike Call) (Released)
“I’d love to be able to do it for the people, for the Cubans that came and were treated really badly, and they came to America,” Trump told Hewitt.
Trump has been making similar statements of late, even stating on the campaign trail before the election that “we’ll take care of Cuba on our way back from Iran.” He then promised that “those beautiful ships” will pass by Cuba, and “They’ll raise up their hands, and then we’re going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.”
The Quiet Part Out Loud
Trump, in that interview, hinted at a few things out loud that presidents typically don’t: That he wants to overthrow Cuba’s government, that he’s planning to do so within a certain time frame, and that he’s motivated to do so, at least in part, by his support from the Cuban-American community in Florida. That community’s support for Trump was at an “all-time high” in 2024, Florida International University said in its “Cuba Poll,” and Trump won Florida easily in all three of his presidential campaigns, even after Barack Obama carried the state twice. In 2016, Obama became the first U.S. president since the revolution to visit Cuba.
The BBC reported in October that some Cuban-Americans in Florida had soured on Trump due to the punitive immigration policies in his second term. However, it doesn’t appear that these feelings hurt the GOP in Florida, where Republican Byron Donalds was elected governor, and Republican Sen. Ashley Moody won her race as well.
Rubio’s Threats
That the CIA was involved in plots to kill or overthrow Castro was a major part of colorful Cold War lore. But Rubio, in a social media post in October, said the quiet part out loud, calling for Cubans looking for a change to work directly with the American intelligence agency.
“To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba – now is the time,” the secretary of state said on X on October 26. “The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discreet partnership with the CIA.”
ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 14, 2011) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) conducts rudder turns during sea trials. Dwight D. Eisenhower completed a nine-month planned incremental availability at Norfolk Naval Shipyard on June 10 and is scheduled to resume underway operations this summer. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Christopher Stoltz/Released)
The CIA reposted the message and also posted it in Spanish, along with instructions on how to contact the intelligence agency.
Trump and Rubio, however, have been light on details of how exactly a Cuba coup would work. Who will run Cuba once the current regime is gone? Will it become a democracy? How will a new Cuban government have any legitimacy when it was openly installed by the U.S. president, the State Department, and the CIA?
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said on X in October, “We reject any threats stemming from U.S. ambitions toward Cuba.”
“Our shores are lined with beautiful beaches,” Parrilla announced, possibly referencing the Bay of Pigs incident. “But they are also rugged and inhospitable to those who arrive with hostile intentions and a desire for domination.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has written thousands of articles on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
