Now that he’s cut off oil and other imports from Venezuela, thus sending Cuba’s economy into further free-fall, Donald Trump is ready to step in and take over.

Under the guise of wanting to help the island nation rid itself of its disastrous communist rule, he sees another piece of property to add to the empire of his dreams . . . this one just 90 miles from the Florida coast. On January 11th, he posted on social media:

“I strongly suggest they [Cuba] make a deal. BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. . . . NO MORE OIL OR MONEY.” [Jose de Cordoba, Vera Bergengruen and Deborah Acosta, Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2026.]

And an unnamed White House official has said:

“Cuba’s rulers are incompetent Marxists who have destroyed their country, and they have had a major setback with the Maduro regime that they are responsible for propping up.” [Id.[

The U.S. State Department has also chimed in with a statement that it is in America’s national security interests for Cuba “to be competently run by a democratic government and to refuse to host our adversaries’ military and intelligence services.” [Id.]

But what, you may ask, would Trump want with 42,000 square miles of ruin that would cost untold amounts of money to rebuild?

Well, first there is its strategic location. Having control of Cuba would prevent another missile crisis like the one in 1962, when Nikita Khrushchev nearly started World War III. A U.S. military presence there would be a legitimate defensive advantage, as well as a deterrent to those drug runners Trump is so hell-bent on wiping out of existence.

There is also potential for the revitalization of Cuba’s agricultural and industrial production, including petroleum, nickel, cobalt, tobacco and sugar. And its tropical climate makes it an ideal tourist attraction, as it was prior to the revolution of 1959.

Just imagine what a brand new Trump Resort and Golf Club would do for the economy!

So there is much to be said for the idea of “encouraging” regime change in Cuba. But there is also a major political problem: Russia remains Cuba’s leading creditor, and the two countries maintain close economic and political ties. There is still a Russian military presence on the island. Russia has an embassy in Havana and a consulate-general in Santiago de Cuba; Cuba has an embassy in Moscow and an honorary consulate in St. Petersburg. Following Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, Cuba recognized it as part of Russia. Cuba has also blamed the United States for the current crisis in Ukraine, and supports Russia’s right to “self-defense” against NATO expansion, stopping just short of actually endorsing the 2022 invasion.

Furthermore, around 55,000 people of Russian descent presently live in Cuba. And, like the (coincidentally) 55,000 people who comprise the total population of Greenland, they may take exception to the idea of becoming citizens of the United States, though for a different reason.

So, if Trump decides to attempt an overthrow of the Cuban regime, he will be running head-first into Vladimir Putin. And he might do well to find someone with an actual knowledge of history to educate him on that little dust-up in 1961 known as the “Bay of Pigs” fiasco.

It was not America’s finest hour.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/22/26