Right-wing media pundits, in both English and Spanish, have advocated for U.S. military intervention or U.S.-backed regime change in Cuba — a recent target of the Trump administration following the January 3 U.S. military operation against Venezuela, a longtime Cuban ally. While hosts and guests on Spanish-language conservative radio and online shows have been pushing for U.S. intervention against Cuba for months now, Fox figures have also recently backed the Trump administration’s warmongering, while podcasters have called to make Cuba a U.S. territory as part of an American “empire.”
Research/Study
Spanish- and English-language right-wing media figures call for U.S. military intervention and regime change in Cuba
MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson said, “I’m here for the invasion of Cuba,” adding, “I'll join Bay of Pigs 2.0”
Written by Monica Rodriguez & Pete Tsipis
Research contributions from Jack Winstanley
Published
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While tensions rose, the Trump administration communicated its desire to take Cuba
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- President Donald Trump said he believed he “will be having the honor of taking Cuba.” Previously, Trump said, “It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover.” Speaking from the White House on March 16, Trump said Cuba is “a very weakened nation right now” as the country experienced a nationwide blackout. A series of blackouts across Cuba has caused a humanitarian crisis due, in part, to the de facto blockade imposed by the Trump administration in January following the U.S. abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whose government was Cuba’s largest oil supplier, and after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries supplying fuel to Cuba. [Reuters, 3/16/26; The New York Times, 3/16/26; CNBC, 3/10/26]
- While tensions between the U.S. and Cuba have been rising steadily in recent weeks, there have been some efforts at negotiation. On March 15, Trump stated, “Cuba also wants to make a deal, and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do.” He added, “We're talking to Cuba, but we're going to do Iran before Cuba.” Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga has admitted to talks with the U.S., saying the regime is open to “a fluid commercial relationship with US companies.” However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 17 that this offer from Cuba doesn’t go far enough. [Reuters, 3/13/26, 3/15/26; The Guardian, 3/17/26]
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Spanish-language right-wing media push for US intervention and regime change in Cuba
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- YouTuber Agustín Laje said, “The next objective of the United States consists of … destroying the Castro regime, finally destroying it.” He added, “We may be witnessing a unique and historic opportunity for the United States, governed by Donald Trump, to focus his efforts toward the definitive liberation of the Cuban people once he finishes with Iran.” [YouTube, Agustín Laje Arrigoni, 3/9/26]
- On Voz News, political analyst Diego Loyo stated that between Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba, the latter would be the country where the United States “could most easily intervene, from a military standpoint.” He added that the U.S. military “would definitely have far greater capacity to attack Cuba, and the Cuban regime specifically, than other countries.” [Voz Media, Voz News, 3/13/26]
- Jorge Martínez, then the Spanish-language spokesperson for the America First Policy Institute, claimed that “Trump believes in peace through strength” and that “acting firmly” on Cuba now would “help avoid greater conflict later.” [La Nueva Poderosa, Mucho que Decir, 1/27/26]
- Former Vice President of Argentina Carlos Ruckauf suggested that “what they did in Venezuela” was a “perfected” example for how to handle Cuba and “end the dictatorship, get these guys out, and usher in a transition.” Appearing on Agustin Laje's YouTube show, Ruckauf said, “Trump is changing the course of history, and specifically the course of history for our continent. … If he ends this dictatorship, which is close, he would be ending the dictatorship that is the mother of narco-socialism of the 21st century.” [YouTube, Agustín Laje Arrigoni, 3/13/26; YouTube, Agustín Laje Arrigoni, 3/13/26]
- Voz News panelist Alfonso Aguilar said escalations in Iran “send a message to Cuba that everything is on the table.” Aguilar, the Director of Hispanic engagement at the America First Policy Institute, clarified that his preference is to avoid “prolonged wars.” He said, “It would be extraordinary if we could have a Venezuela-type transition that leads to a stable and democratic government” in Cuba. [Voz Media, Voz News, 2/27/26]
- Cada Tarde host Agustín Acosta said that if the Cuban government made the “mistake” of repressing its citizens as the Iranian ayatollahs did, Trump would not miss the “opportunity” to “destroy all the military infrastructure and bomb the palace where Raúl [Castro] lives.” He added that if that scenario occurs, “a military intervention would be justified in the eyes of public opinion as a humanitarian intervention.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 2/18/26]
- Acosta stated that there should be regime change in Cuba, but claimed that “there will probably not be a single American soldier’s boot on the ground in Cuba, just like in Venezuela.” He argued that this year in Cuba, people could have the opportunity to “hold rallies without repression, precisely without firing a shot from Washington, because they have a gun to the back of their heads at the moment.” [Actualidad Radio, Cada Tarde, 2/2/26]
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Some English-speaking right-wing podcasters and streamers have advocated for the “invasion of Cuba”
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- During an ad read, podcaster Benny Johnson said he’s “here for the invasion of Cuba,” adding, “I'll join Bay of Pigs 2.0.” Johnson also said during another episode that taking over Cuba “feels a little more natural” than the attacks on Iran because it’s “a collapsed and failed nation, it’s something that is right off our coast, it was used to nearly launch a nuclear holocaust on our people, and it’s been a — they’re serving a pawn state to the communist faction of the world that is nonexistent, effectively.” [YouTube, The Benny Johnson Show, 3/12/26, 3/6/26]
- Right-wing streamer Zach Hoyt, who goes by Asmongold online, suggested Trump “take over” Cuba and turn it into a U.S. territory. He said, “If Trump is able to take Greenland, basically subjugate Venezuela, get rid of Iran's dictatorship, and then also take over places like Cuba, I think that pretty much locks it in. I mean, I know people might not like this. Right? But, like, really think about that. That's nuts. Like, really? I mean, like, yeah, you get, like, fucking, like, three or four different territories. That's insane.” [YouTube, Asmongold TV, 1/21/26]
- PBD Podcast panelist Brandon Aceto said Cuban Americans would be thrilled if “the United States went in and took out the leader of Cuba the way we did with Venezuela.” Aceto stated, “If you were to think about it from terms of precedent and international law and everything, yeah, sure, you could say like, oh, so we're talking about taking over a country. But no, like, I mean, let's be real. I don't think there's a Cuban in the world that exists that would be upset if the United States went in and took out the leader of Cuba the way we did with Venezuela.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 3/18/26]
- White nationalist Nick Fuentes advocated for U.S. imperialism in Cuba, saying he likes “seeing more territory have the American flag flying over it” and that he wants “America to be an empire.” Fuentes stated, “I like the idea of America getting bigger, larger. I don't know about you, but I like seeing more of the map become America. I like seeing more territory have the American flag flying over it. Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, why not?” In a later episode, Fuentes stated, “We need more territories. This is the thing, like — I believe in American empire. I want America to be an empire. Yes. Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela.” He added, “These are all the countries we need to capture.” Fuentes would later seem to contradict himself by criticizing the idea of regime change in Cuba, claiming that it would lead to refugees entering the United States. [Media Matters, 3/18/26; Rumble, America First, 1/15/26, 2/9/26, 3/16/26]
- Conservative pundit Jesse Kelly pushed for U.S. intervention in Cuba, saying that “if we’re going to reassert the Monroe Doctrine … Cuba has to be part of that.” Kelly stated, “They're 90 miles off our shore. If we're going to reassert the Monroe Doctrine — and Donald Trump has talked openly about that, where we control our hemisphere — Cuba has to be part of that. We can't have a hostile country 90 miles from our border. We are running into a problem, and they've spoken about this. We don't know. Again, this is similar to Iran — we don't know who's taking over.” [YouTube, The Megyn Kelly Show, 3/6/26]
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Fox figures have backed or touted the administration's threats of military intervention in Cuba
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- Fox News analyst Jack Keane said the U.S. can “bend this regime to our will,” referring to Cuba. Keane stated, “You take advantage of the reality that Cuba is near economic collapse ever since we shut down any assistance from Venezuela, particularly their oil. And as a result of that we can bend this regime to our will in a way that we've never been able to do.” [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria, 3/17/26]
- Fox News contributor Dan Hoffman voiced support for a U.S.-led regime change in Cuba. Hoffman stated, “This is probably our best chance that we’ve ever had, with the leverage that we have, to impose some change on Cuba, which would benefit the Cuban people as well.” [Fox News, America Reports, 3/17/26]
- Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said the Cuban regime will have to “make a choice” because Trump “has already demonstrated, when you look at Iran and Venezuela, he’s not kidding.” Kilmeade said, “Do they want to end up in a Brooklyn jail or do they want to go some place of their choosing? It depends on the type of landing they prefer.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/9/26]
- Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe listed Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran as countries that “have required … or may require U.S. military intervention” to achieve freedom. She said: “You look at these three different countries right now, whether it be Iran, Venezuela, or Cuba that have required, or at least Cuba, President Trump’s talking about it, that have required or may require U.S. military intervention to free those societies.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 3/6/26]