UN Ambassador Waltz: Cuba’s regime ‘is a national security threat’

International UN Ambassador Waltz: Cuba’s regime ‘is a national security threat’ Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 07/12/26 4:04 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 07/12/26 4:04 PM ET Comments: Link copied

NOW PLAYING

United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz on Sunday said Cuba’s regime is “a national security threat,” as the Trump administration keeps its sights on the Caribbean island nation amid rising tensions.

Waltz accused China and Russia of “collecting information around our military bases in Cuba” during an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo.

“The Cuban regime is not only a threat to its own people, it’s a national security threat, and this administration’s not going to stand for it any longer,” Waltz told Bartiromo.

Waltz said China and Russia “still have intelligence posts, signals, collection posts and military officers in Cuba right off our shores.”

“But they’re no longer in Venezuela,” he continued. “They’re no longer in south Central America, in the way that they were, on the march, even in the Panama Canal, under the Biden administration and previous administrations.”

The Trump administration has taken a firm stance against Cuba’s regime, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe meeting with Cuban officials in May to reinforce President Trump’s warning of an invasion or military response against Cuba.

The CIA previously said Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba to “personally deliver President Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at around the same time that a negotiated deal with Cuban officials was not likely.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in May warned against any U.S. military intervention following the publication of an Axios story, warning of a “bloodbath with incalculable consequences” if there is an attack. Díaz-Canel’s warning came after Axios reported that Cuba has 300 drones and an attack plan on the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said last week that Iran supplied Cuba with the drones.

“I think it’s important to recognize that Iran has consistently been working with Cuba, Venezuela prior to the departure of Maduro from the regime, creating instability in not just in Cuba, but certainly in the region,” Bush said, referring to deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally and defense hawk who died Saturday night, openly called for regime change in Cuba and — following the military responses in Venezuela and Iran — said in March that “Cuba is next.”

“I believe the liberation of the wonderful people of Cuba from the clutches of communism is close at hand,” Graham wrote on social media in May.