Following the approval of the latest memorandum designed to destroy Cuba, signed by the US president on June 30, opinions and political moves have surfaced in the US, revealing potential contradictions about the best policy to implement in the now eternal, all-out war waged by the US oligarchy against the Cuban Revolution.

These alleged contradictions come as a real surprise to any unwary observer, because both discursively and in concrete and practical terms, if anything characterizes Trump's administration, it is his ruthless confrontation with Cuba. This was the case in his first term, described as his most hostile; furthermore, it is the focus of the aforementioned memorandum.

But we already know how eagerly Trump, in his second term, tries to convey his intentions to change what the hackneyed deep state has done to the American people. That's why they elected him, they boast, to govern differently than the establishment, to use the colorful term of the Buenos Aires far right.

Some of Trump's ideologues have taken these intentions for change seriously. This is the case with journalist Tucker Carlson, who, in a conference before Turning Point USA (TPUSA), affirmed that the blockade and economic war against Cuba, imposed and maintained over the past 60 years, have served no purpose; he added that it was time to modify this policy if the Cuban "regime" is truly to be changed.

This speech wasn't delivered to a group of progressives or sympathetic admirers of Che Guevara; no, TPUSA is a markedly reactionary institution, one that is Trumpist through and through. Founded in 2012, its purpose is to spread conservative "values," especially among young people; it is obviously ultra-Zionist and viscerally anti-communist.

Therefore, Carlson's remarks have nothing to do with any ideological or political sympathy towards the Cuban Revolution, but are essentially pragmatic and probably as perverse as the other position, that of a full-throttle war, that is, to destroy this genuinely popular process conceived precisely to defend Cuba's sovereignty and independence.

The issue gets more interesting. Based on Carlson's opinions, it was revealed in a media outlet that covers Cuban issues, based in Miami or Madrid, that someone or some people within the Trump administration were indeed analyzing a change in the anti-Cuban sanctions policy, in line with the famous journalist.

Conveniently, the article warns that this is at the level of an internal, not public, debate, and that it initially faces strong opposition from Secretary of State Mr. Rubio.

Following this story, which some forum users on social media called false or a trial ball, to see how the US public, and in turn, Latin American, reacted, a legislative proposal from one of the usual suspects, Florida Representative Mario Díaz-Balart, became known.

Of course, Díaz-Balart's mess is the opposite extreme of what Carlson graciously conveyed to those attending the TPUSA event.

Based on the provisions of the aforementioned memorandum, which was rightly described as a political platform to legalize any misdeed against Cuba, the representative establishes the package of concrete measures and how to manage their implementation in the 2026 federal budget, as well as the amount that should be used to finance the media war against the island.

This last issue is worth dwelling on, because the representative is clearly going against the tide and the wind that are whipping the Trump administration's sky, which, axe in hand, is cutting here and there, with figures exceeding $9 billion in these six months of administration, just in aid programs, some of them humanitarian in nature.

Of course, the cuts affect the Cuban-named digital media group, which relies on the federal budget and whose job is to translate the US government's messages against the Revolution into the island language.

As it turns out, the clueless Díaz-Balart is requesting a sum of around $75 million to contribute to regime change in Cuba, as can be read in his "Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Bill."

Of those millions, no less than $40 million are for the useless Radio/TV Martí. The irrelevance of this platform is self-evident, but the aforementioned figure is relevant given that it was already proven excessive at the time.

History stubbornly proves the above point. It turns out that when the project for the misnamed Radio Martí station began operations, it was assisted by an aircraft, first an EC-130 and later a Gulfstream G-1, also known as "Aero Martí." These aircraft were supposed to amplify the radio signal, but they were unsuccessful. And someone in Washington calculated that, if they were lucky, the station was listened to by 1% of Cubans on the island. In short, Aero Martí was shut down after it was discovered they had wasted around $40 million over seven years.

By then, Radio TV Martí's budget had plummeted year after year, even being frozen under the current administration; at this point, it's unclear how the matter will end, and what will happen to the manifest waste implicit in the existence of Martí Noticias, its current name.

The other $35 million, of the $75 million mentioned and requested by Díaz-Balart, are to fund other anti-Cuban platforms and digital media, that is, the same ones that were left behind with the disappearance of USAID. Although Mr. Rubio later got them some money, the future of this propaganda group is truly uncertain.
Which of the two supposed positions will prevail could be a natural question. And as is always advisable to take sides, the most sensible thing, the one historically proven so far, is for Díaz-Balart to get his way, with this version of the law or something similar.

The Trump universe, in any case, is like this: contradictory, where the logic that the show must go on is mixed, in reality TV mode, seasoned with tariff threats that are postponed, modified, or amplified at the last minute, depending on the mood of the new king, according to Trump's critics. Like a sinister poker game, the bets vary depending on the player, and nothing, or almost nothing, is clear.

Meanwhile, Cuba is prepared to watch the Washington farce, expecting nothing from the enemy, no matter what form the attack comes in: covert, as Carlson seems to suggest, or more ruthless, like that of the failed Díaz-Balart. Remember, we've met before.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff