Trump Administration’s Claims of Cuban Drone Attack Plans Criticized as ‘Friendly Pretext’ for War
Conor here: When you lost Robert Gates…
The former CIA director recently said that the mass migration crisis – caused by Rubio’s regime change effort – is the only threat Cuba poses to the US.
So Rubio rushes to Axios to make “the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana”pic.twitter.com/HMKiHF1p5E
– Erik Sperling (@ErikSperling) May 17, 2026
By Julia Conley, senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams. Originally published in Common Dreams.
Cuban officials said the Trump administration is making “strong allegations” against the country as it seeks to justify, “without reason, a military attack against Cuba,” after an anonymous White House official told the Axios newspaper that the Cubans were “talking about plans” to launch drones against the US.
“Cuba is a country under attack,” said the Cuban ambassador in a statement, after several months the US-made oil embargo has left the island’s electricity “in a critical state” and forced frequent blackouts and a health crisis, with tens of thousands of people waiting for surgery.
But in an Axios article, a Trump administration official took it upon himself to emphasize the idea that the US, with its nearly $1 trillion-a-year military, could face an attack from a small Caribbean nation 90 kilometers south of Florida because its officials were preparing to defend themselves.
Axios reported that, according to classified information it has seen, Cuba has purchased more than 300 drones and was considering plans to attack the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, various US warships, and Key West, Florida.
The country has been buying drones from Russia and Iran since 2023 and has sought more help from Russia in recent months, according to the report. The intelligence intervention also showed that Cuba is “trying to learn how Iran opposes us,” the official said, referring to Iran’s use of drones, its closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and its attacks on American military bases in the Middle East in response to the US-Israeli war in the country that began in February.
The Cuban ambassador also responded with a reminder that “like any country, Cuba has the right to defend itself against foreign aggression.”
Like any country, Cuba has the right to defend itself against foreign aggression. It is called self-defense, and it is protected by International Law and the UN Charter.
Those from the US who want the transfer and, in fact, the destruction of Cuba…
– Embassy of Cuba in the US (@EmbaCubaUS) May 17, 2026
“Those from the US who want the submission and, in fact, the destruction of the Cuban nation through military violence and war, do not waste a single minute inventing excuses, creating and spreading lies, and distorting as unusual the reasonable preparation necessary to face possible aggression,” said the ambassador.
Journalist José Luis Granados Ceja, who is based in Mexico City and covers Latin America for Drop Site News, insisted that “Cuba has the right to defend itself.”
“It would be wise for Cuba to combine what has proven to be a very effective weapon and a deterrence tool as part of its defense strategy,” Granados Ceja said.
Axios said that the intelligence “could be an excuse for the US military” that President Donald Trump has expressed interest in taking several times, before admitting at the end of the article that “US officials do not believe that Cuba is an imminent threat, or planning to attack US interests.”
Instead, intelligence indicated that Cuban officials were “discussing plans for drone warfare in the event of conflict as relations with the US continue to deteriorate” – suggesting they could use drones to defend themselves in the event of a US attack.
.@Axios creates a “drone threat”, then admits paragraphs later: “American officials do not believe that Cuba is planning an attack.”
This counter-information is a blatant, ridiculous excuse to justify US hostility.
We absolutely reject these baseless smears.– Cuba in the UK (@EmbaCuba_UK) May 17, 2026
The report is consistent with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s rationale for attacking Iran in February. He surprised legal experts in the days before the war started, explaining that the US decided to fight the Middle Eastern country because it was afraid that Iran would take revenge after Israel started attacking it.
“The immediate threats are that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believe they would be, they would go after us immediately,” Rubio said.
The claim that Cuba’s reported preparations make the island a threat to US security is “false—it’s objective,” said David Adler, general counsel for Progressive International.
“Marco Rubio and his cameramen at Axios are authorizing the attack on Cuba,” Adler said. “To fall for this trivial propaganda is to fail the basic test of reading and writing about society. It also endangers the lives of millions of Cubans along our shores.”
Cuban drone attack with Iranian help? Now we know why Rubio has been spreading the message that Cuba is a threat and hosts enemies of the US.
It reads like something out of a bad spy novel, but this revolutionary propaganda represents a real danger.
— José Luis Granados Ceja (@GranadosCeja) May 17, 2026
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long sought regime change in the socialist country.
The Axios report came days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba to press officials to comply with US demands, which may include political and economic reforms, raising fears that the US may plan a military attack unless the country complies.
White House officials also told CBS News on Friday that the Justice Department is preparing to indict former Cuban President Raúl Castro on charges of shooting down U.S. military planes over Cuban airspace in the 1990s. In January, US troops invaded Venezuela and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro, who took him to the US where he was charged with drug trafficking, which he denied.
Former Obama administration staffer and Pod Save America manager Tommy Vietor said Sunday that “there are many signs pointing to a US regime change campaign against Cuba.”
“The latest,” he said of the Axios article, “is a blatant attempt to make excuses for war through the media.”
