A senior official in the Trump administration dismissed on Tuesday any suggestion that the military conflict between the United States and Israel against Iran has pushed Cuba off the agenda in Washington, according to an extensive report by the New York Post about the so-called "Donroe Doctrine."
It is a conflict of a temporary nature, said the official, whose identity was not disclosed. We carried out the entire project in Venezuela while the situation in Iran was ongoing, and we are taking care of Cuba. We have maintained momentum at full speed in the Western Hemisphere.
The report, authored by Josh Christenson and published on Tuesday, was shared that same day by the State Department on its official account, emphasizing the significance that the administration places on its regional strategy. Trump himself added a warning note by joking that U.S. forces returning from the Middle East could "stop by" Cuba on their way home.
The war between the United States and Israel against Iran, which began in February 2026, had raised questions about whether it would distract Washington from its objectives in Latin America. The official dismissed these concerns outright, noting that the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas —described in the report as the "crown jewel" of the Monroe Doctrine— was executed precisely while that conflict was already underway.
The same official noted that the military presence of agents from Iran's Quds Force in Venezuela, which was active during Maduro's government, was eliminated following the operation in January 2026: «That no longer exists. We expelled them all».
For Cuba, the consequences of that operation have been direct and severe. The dictatorship lost the subsidized supply of Venezuelan oil that sustained its economy, while Washington intensified sanctions. Trump has publicly declared that the regime will fall before his term ends.
The spokesperson for the National Security Council, Anna Kelly, summarized the White House's vision this way: «After years of neglect, President Trump established the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere».
The strategic framework described in the report —which combines the name Donald with the historic Monroe Doctrine of 1823— includes the prioritization of up to 20 nations on the continent to contain threats, secure supply chains, and curb drug trafficking and irregular migration.
According to analyst Jonathan Schanzer from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, "the world is a big chessboard right now," and the administration is positioning the United States for "fierce competition over the coming decades" against China.
The pressure on Havana has intensified in recent weeks through various channels. Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly urged Cubans to cooperate with the CIA on October 23, and the following day the agency itself released instructions in Spanish for that contact. The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla described the call as "not serious" and "a bit childish."
In October, Washington also sanctioned the Cuban bank BICSA for operating with the Iranian Karafarin Bank, explicitly linking the pressure on Cuba to the campaign against Iran, a connection that the anonymous official from the New York Post reinforced by recalling the expulsion of Quds Force agents from Venezuela.
Rubio, for his part, stated that Cuba needs a "very drastic change" and that its situation is "completely different" from Venezuela's, without specifying what form that change would take or why he dismissed peaceful means when questioned about it.
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