The President of the United States, Donald Trump, jokingly suggested once again on the night of Friday, November 6, to drop Secretary of State Marco Rubio by parachute over Cuba to "resolve" the situation on the island.
The statement was made during an appearance at the CPAC Circle Retreat and Gala, a private gathering of the American conservative movement held at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. The moment was captured in a video posted by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on its official X account.
“We’re going to parachute it into Cuba, so Marco will sort it out. He’ll take care of it. His parents were born in Cuba, so it’s a great story,” Trump said jokingly.
The official praised Rubio as the "best Secretary of State" and emphasized his Cuban roots once again. The remark was not accompanied by any announcements of military operations or concrete measures towards the island.
The CPAC meeting, held from November 4 to 7, brought together political leaders, donors, and representatives of the American conservative movement at Mar-a-Lago.
During the Friday session, Rubio and Stephen Miller also spoke, the latter appointed that same day as the new White House Chief of Staff, replacing Susie Wiles, effective Monday, November 9.
Miller delivered his first public speech following his appointment, in which he stated that the United States would not exist without Trump and promised him his "absolute loyalty." The meeting took place just three days after the legislative elections on November 3, in which the Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress.
This is not the first time that Trump has resorted to the image of sending Rubio to Cuba.
The leader began to develop this scenario at least since May 2026, when he proposed bringing the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to within 100 yards of the Cuban coast, once the U.S. military operations against Iran were concluded.
In September, during the week of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he suggested leaving Rubio in Cuba from an aircraft carrier so that he could "handle the rest." On October 23, during a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, he envisioned U.S. ships passing about 50 yards off the Cuban coast and the Secretary of State being tasked with "finalizing the agreement."
Four days later, on October 27, during a rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, Trump used the parachute image for the first time in that sequence: "We're going to drop him in a parachute, we just let him fall and he'll handle it". That speech, in which he called Rubio to the stage amidst the audience's applause, took place during a campaign tour across Texas.
On November 1st, during a rally in Salina, Kansas, Trump joked again with the Secretary of State, this time pretending he might fire him because he was becoming "too popular." “If you become even more popular, I'm going to say: ‘You're fired!’,” he remarked with laughter after inviting him to come up on stage.
The statements made on Friday at Mar-a-Lago came at a politically significant time for Rubio. Following the legislative elections on November 3, rumors circulated about his potential departure from the Government to prepare a presidential candidacy in 2028.
The State Department labeled them as "completely unfounded fake news", while the White House described them as "false and unfounded conspiracy theories".
Rubio himself denied the rumors in an interview with The New York Times, published on the eve of the meeting: «Working for President Trump until the end of his term has always been my plan,» he stated.
Trump's new praise for Rubio during the CPAC meeting serves as another public display of support for the Secretary of State following speculation about his political future.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has held the positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor simultaneously since September 22. He has played a central role in Washington's maximum pressure policy towards Havana. A profile published in May by The Guardian highlighted the fall of the Cuban regime as one of the main goals of his political career and a possible defining element of his legacy.
On October 26, Rubio was more explicit about the U.S. position: “Cuba needs a very drastic change,” he stated to reporters, while distinguishing the situation on the island from the political process that Venezuela is experiencing.
Although Trump has reiterated jokes about aircraft carriers and parachutes, and has repeatedly linked the future of Cuba to the conclusion of U.S. operations in Iran, none of those statements have been accompanied by a public military order or an official operational plan to intervene on the island.
The president has also not specified what specific role Rubio would play in a potential agreement or political transition in Cuba.
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