The Trump administration's indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles is escalating pressure on the island’s socialist government.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and Trump’s ballroom on Thursday. And Trump's plan to build a triumphal arch in Washington is getting a second look from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency that suggested changes before it approved the concept last month.
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Rubio says despite ‘good signs’ in Iran talks, ‘other options’ remain on the table
Being careful not to sound overtly optimistic, Rubio told reporters Thursday that while Pakistan and other regional allies are hard at work to bring a diplomatic resolution on Iran, with some officials traveling to Tehran today, Washington remains ready with alternative plans.
“The president’s preference is to do a good deal. That’s his preference. It’s always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great,” he said. “But if we can’t get a good deal, the president’s been clear he has other options.”
Rubio says Iran’s plan to toll Strait of Hormuz would make deal ‘unfeasible’
Talking to reporters on the tarmac in Florida, Rubio once again blasted Tehran’s effort to financially benefit from its chokehold on the critical waterway.
“No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen. It would be unacceptable,” he said. “It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that.”
But the secretary of state added that there were “good signs” in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran despite weeks of back-and-forth on a sustainable end to the war between the longtime adversaries.
“I don’t want to get ahead of it ... I think we’ve made some progress,” Rubio said. “But obviously we’re dealing with a system that itself is a little fractured.”
GOP senators huddling with Blanche on Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Republican senators have some questions for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as they finalize the text of a $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. The Trump administration wants it to include a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as part of a settlement that also absolves Trump and his family from any potential tax law violations.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said before their meeting with Blanche began Thursday that his fellow Republicans want to make sure the fund is “fenced in appropriately.”
Democrats have an opening because Republicans are trying to pass the bill through a complicated budget process that requires a long series of amendment votes. Among other things, Democrats want to ban any payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Rubio says Cuba has ‘always’ been a national security threat
The U.S. secretary of state says Cuba has “always” been a national security threat to the United States.
“Cuba hosts a Russia and Chinese intelligence presence in their country,” Marco Rubio told reporters before leaving Miami for a trip to a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden and then India.
Rubio would not discuss how the U.S. might move to implement the indictment against Castro, which has led many to believe that military action against the island is potentially imminent, after similar charges against former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro were invoked to justify his ouster in a military operation in January.
Facing intense internal pressure, DNC releases post-election autopsy
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a critical study of the party’s performance in the 2024 campaign on Thursday after frustrated party operatives publicly demanded the release of the post-election autopsy.
The 192-page report was concluded last December and authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera. It calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South.”
“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.
Martin is confronting a crisis of confidence among party officials amid increasing concerns about the health of their political machine. “Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote in response.
Democrats rally at Capitol against GOP funding bill
House and Senate Democrats gathered on the Capitol steps in opposition to Republicans’ funding bill for immigration enforcement.
Democrats are trying to draw a sharp contrast with the upcoming votes by highlighting how the White House has proposed including $1 billion for security for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom. Republicans are abandoning that proposal, but Democrats said Congress should be focused instead on making life affordable for everyday Americans.
“Ballroom Republicans are not working for you, they are busy fighting for Trump,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. “The American people are watching and in November, they will be watching.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, for his part, said “immigration enforcement in this country should be fair. It should be just, and it should be humane.”
Cuban government points to US airstrikes on boats in Latin American waters
Cuba is accusing the Trump administration of hypocrisy for indicting former President Raul Castro in the downing of civilian planes near its coast 30 years ago, noting that the U.S. president is responsible for many more killings of civilians in international waters this year.
“It is highly cynical that this accusation is made by the same government that has murdered nearly 200 people and destroyed 57 vessels in international waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific, far from the territory of the United States,” the Cuban government response said, adding that the killings “qualify as extrajudicial executions, in accordance with International Law, and murders, according to US laws.”
Trump has justified the attacks as necessary to stem the flow of drugs, while offering little evidence that “narcoterrorists” are in the boats.
The Pentagon inspector general announced a review of whether the attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats followed an established targeting framework, but said it would not probe the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny.
Trump will ease refrigerant rule in effort to address surging grocery costs
The Trump administration is set to loosen a federal rule that requires grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, said American families will see lower grocery prices as a result. Trump is scheduled to be joined by executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains for Thursday’s announcement.
Just how much or how quickly loosening the refrigerant rule might ease grocery prices is unclear. The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.
Timeline of relations between the US and Cuba
Trump has been escalating talk about regime change in Cuba ever since he sent the U.S. military to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. Now a federal indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro is raising questions about whether Trump might try something similar in Havana.
Here’s a timeline of U.S. relations with the communist-run island, including repeated meetings with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Castro known as “Raúlito.”
China opposes US sanctions and pressure on Cuba
“China always firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and have no authorization from the United Nations Security Council and the abuse of judicial measures, and we also oppose external forces exerting pressure on Cuba under any pretext,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiankun said Thursday.
The U.S. should “stop wielding the stick of sanctions and judicial measures” against the country, Guo added. “China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference.”
Trump’s proposed Washington arch gets another review
Trump’s plan to build a triumphal arch in Washington is getting a second look from a federal agency that suggested changes before it approved the concept last month.
The proposed 250-foot (76 meter) arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington. Critics of the project, including an overwhelming number of people who submitted public comment in April, said the arch would be taller than any other monument in the capital city and dominate the skyline.
He has said some of his other projects, such as adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, will beautify the city in time for July 4 celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump, approved the concept for the arch at its monthly meeting in April. Commissioners are set to consider and possibly vote on updated plans when they meet again on Thursday.
Young Republicans wrestle with their disappointment in Trump and their party
The more than a dozen young Republicans who gathered with beers and brightly colored cocktails at a bar called dEcORa in Kentucky this week were picking apart the presidential administration they welcomed with high hopes last year.
By now, their enthusiasm for Trump had curdled into frustration. What poured out at the bar was a sense that the Republican establishment — which they initially applauded Trump for disrupting, but which some now see him sustaining — had forsaken them.
That festering feeling has widened a generational gap between younger and older conservatives as the party slowly begins to consider a future without Trump in charge.
The Republican primary defeat of Rep. Thomas Massie — who had earned a younger and anti-establishment following while feuding with Trump — cost them one of their strongest allies in Congress.
Republicans expected to abandon $1B security proposal for White House and Trump’s ballroom
Senate Republican leaders are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and Trump’s ballroom on Thursday after members of their own party questioned the timing and the lack of detail in the Secret Service request.
Pressured by the White House, Republicans have tried to add the money to a roughly $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. But the security proposal met with backlash from some GOP lawmakers who are questioning the cost and how the taxpayer dollars would be used.
The bill’s text has not yet been released, but the Senate hopes to pass it this week and send it to the House before leaving for a weeklong Memorial Day recess.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a “bad idea” and he does not think there is enough backing to pass it, even if the cost were reduced.
US indictment raises pressure as Cuba's president condemns charges
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced criminal charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles as the Trump administration escalated pressure on the island’s socialist government.
The indictment accuses Castro of ordering the shootdown of two small planes operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro, who turns 95 next month, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time. The charges, which were secretly filed by a grand jury in April, included murder and destruction of an airplane. Five Cuban military pilots were also charged.
Asked to what lengths American authorities would go to bring Castro to face charges in the U.S., acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “There was a warrant issued for his arrest. So we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.”
The charges pose a real threat, observers said, following the capture by U.S. forces in January of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to face drug charges in New York.
