The president Donald Trump called Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the stage during a rally held this Tuesday at the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, where the crowd chanted the official's name and Trump joked again about sending him to Cuba to "resolve" the situation on the island.
The event, organized to support the Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton ahead of the elections on November 3, was the first time Rubio joined Trump on a national campaign tour in 2026, according to Politico.
Trump called Rubio from the podium with a "Come here, Marco! Marco, come up. Let's go," as hundreds of attendees chanted "Marco! Marco! Marco!" The president praised his Secretary of State with phrases like "he is so humble, we love Marco" and "he has done a great job."
Rubio responded with equally passionate words: "It is an honor to work for the best country in the world and for the best president in the history of the United States of America. We love you, Texas."
The joke about Cuba surfaced quickly. Trump stated that, on his way back from Iran, he plans to "leave" Rubio on the island: "We're going to parachute him in, we just drop him and he'll figure it out." The comment was met with applause and laughter from the Texan audience.
It's not the first time Trump has made such comments. On September 22, during his speech at the UN General Assembly, he had already joked about dropping Rubio in Cuba to "figure out" the situation, and four days before the rally in Texas, he reiterated the idea in Fort Myers, Florida, suggesting that warships returning from Iran should pass by the island and that Rubio should be sent to "close the deal."
The jokes occur in the context of the increasing rhetoric from the Trump administration towards the Cuban regime. On Monday, Rubio asserted that Cuba needs a “very drastic change”, and on October 23, he publicly called on Cubans to collaborate “discreetly with the CIA” to promote changes on the island.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and the first Hispanic to lead U.S. diplomacy, has simultaneously served as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor since Trump formalized this dual role on September 22, becoming the first person since Henry Kissinger to hold both positions at the same time.
In parallel to the rhetoric, the administration has applied economic pressure on Havana: it intercepted at least seven tankers carrying fuel destined for Cuba during 2026, which reduced Cuban crude oil imports by between 80% and 90%, according to news reports from last May.
Trump continued his Texas tour with a second rally in Lubbock that same afternoon, while the October polls show Talarico with a slight two-point lead over Paxton, within the margin of error, in the Senate race.
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