Trump reposts suggestion that Rubio become next Cuba leader

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump reposted a social media message on Jan 11 suggesting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, born to Cuban immigrant parents, would become the next leader of Cuba.

Mr Trump republished on his Truth Social platform a message from X user Cliff Smith on Jan 8 that read: “Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba”, accompanied by a crying laughing emoji.

“Sounds good to me!” Mr Trump commented in his repost.

The largely unknown user, whose bio refers to him as a “conservative Californian”, has less than 500 followers on X.

Mr Trump’s repost comes a week after US forces seized Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro
in an overnight operation in Caracas that killed dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security forces.

Cuba’s communist government has yet to directly respond to the US President’s provocative suggestion that an American citizen could rule the island.

But shortly after Mr Trump’s post, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez insisted “right and justice are on Cuba’s side”.

The United States “behaves like an out-of-control criminal hegemon that threatens peace and security, not only in Cuba and this hemisphere, but throughout the entire world”, Mr Rodriguez posted on X. AFP