admin
Rob Schmitt’s back-and-forth with Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim put on display something the American people already know: the Cuba question is not a polite academic debate but a battle over whether the United States will stand for freedom or kowtow to regimes that crush it. Grim’s insistence on casting U.S. pressure as reckless overlooks decades of Communist brutality on the island and the genuine yearning of ordinary Cubans for liberty. As Schmitt pressed, this is about strategy and results — not about scoring woke points for journalism elites who romanticize dictatorships.
Ryan Grim’s reporting in Drop Site News claims that senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have misled President Trump about supposed high-level talks with Havana — and that, in reality, no substantive negotiations have been taking place. That allegation, if true, exposes dangerous information games inside the Beltway where politics and personal agendas can trump straightforward diplomacy. Americans deserve clarity: are talks being pursued to open doors for ordinary Cubans, or are they being manipulated to manufacture pretexts for policy failures?
What cannot be disputed is the administration’s decisive move to choke off the regime’s lifelines: on January 29, 2026, the president signed an executive order creating a process to impose tariffs on countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba. This was not an impulsive threat but a strategic lever to starve an illegitimate government of the resources it uses to prop up oppression and fund malign activity. For patriotic Americans who demand results, using economic power to pressure tyrants is both smart and morally defensible.
The consequences have been immediate and stark: Mexico has at least temporarily suspended oil shipments to Cuba, and Havana is grappling with severe energy shortages that the regime itself admits are jeopardizing basic services. When our diplomatic and economic tools produce tangible pressure on a communist kleptocracy, critics rush to play the humanitarian card while glossing over how the regime has long misallocated resources and prioritized repression over people. If that pressure speeds the day when Cubans can reclaim their nation, then it is pressure worth applying.
Practical fallout has not been abstract: Cuba warned international carriers it could not refuel flights because jet fuel was unavailable at multiple airports, forcing airlines to suspend services and stranding tourism dollars that the regime clings to. The blackouts and grounded flights aren’t pleasant — they’re consequences of a regime that chose repression over reform for decades, and of an international system that has too often indulged its patronage networks. Journalists like Grim treat these developments as evidence that the United States has gone too far, but they too often ignore that engagement without leverage simply allows authoritarianism to persist.
Now the island is experiencing rolling blackouts and even full-grid collapses, with official Cuban sources noting weeks without critical fuel supplies and emergency measures to protect hospitals and water systems. This is precisely why American resolve matters: a regime that runs on coercion and corruption should not be bailed out by nations unwilling to stand for democratic norms. The alternative is endless, costly appeasement that leaves the people of Cuba trapped under the same tyrannical apparatus that robbed them of freedom for generations.
Make no mistake: patriots should demand a humane and strategic endgame that liberates the Cuban people, not one that rewards dictators. If Secretary Rubio and others are holding firm because they recognize the stakes of normalization without accountability, that deserves respect rather than sneers from left-leaning reporters who prefer optics over outcomes. The real question for Ryan Grim and his allies is whether they stand with tyrants who enrich themselves and wreck nations, or with the brave Cubans who risk everything for the simple right to speak, worship, and work freely.
America should double down on pressure while supporting clear, targeted humanitarian channels that get relief to people, not to party apparatchiks. Rob Schmitt was right to press these points on air — this isn’t a time for sentimentalism, it’s a time for strategy, courage, and a commitment to liberty. Hard power paired with principled diplomacy made America a beacon of freedom; we should apply it now to help free our neighbors in Cuba from the same failed ideology that has destroyed so many lives.
