QUESTION: Can you tell us —
QUESTION: (Inaudible) Iran talking about – Iran talking about trying to formalize with Oman a tolling system for the Strait of Hormuz. How does the U.S. view that?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we’ve always said a tolling system in the strait would be unacceptable. But we don’t just say that; the world has said that. We have a resolution right now in the United Nations – we’re trying to take it to the Security Council – sponsored by Bahrain. It has over a hundred – it is – the highest number of co-sponsors in the history of the Security Council have signed onto our resolution. We were in China last week. We mentioned this about the tolling; they’re against it. No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen; it would be unacceptable. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that. So it’s a threat to the world that they would try to do that. And it’s completely illegal, by the way.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is Cuba’s (inaudible) posing a national security threat to the U.S.?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I hope not, given the fact that we’re sitting here in Homestead, Florida, only about 180 – no, look, I’m not going to comment on military matters or national security threats directly linked to the United States with specificity. Here’s what I can tell you. Cuba not only has weapons that they’ve acquired from Russia and China over the years, but they also host Russian and Chinese intelligence presence in their country not far from where we’re standing right now.
So Cuba’s always posed a national security threat to the United States. They, by the way, have been one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region, if you look at the groups that work out of Colombia that have destabilized that country over the years with full support from this regime over there.
So Cuba has consistently posed a threat to the national security of the United States. And the other thing that poses a threat to the national security of the United States is to have a failed state 90 miles from our shores run by friends of our adversaries.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, are you – is the U.S. administration offended that the regime has not taken you up on the offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid yet?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Are we offended that the Cubans have not accepted our – well, they’ve said they’ve accepted it We’ll see if that means – because here’s the thing: We’re not going to do humanitarian aid that falls into the hands of their military company that they have, and then they take that stuff and they sell it at the dollar stores and put the money in their pocket. That’s not going to work that way.
So I was in Rome a couple weeks ago and met with the Catholic Church again. They’re prepared to step forward. A bunch of other NGOs – I have a letter in my pocket right now from a humanitarian organization that’s already operating inside of Cuba that’s prepared to do the distribution. We were able to do about $6 million after the – well, 3 million – 6 million was dedicated to do it; 3 of the 6 million were distributed inside of Cuba after the hurricane through the Catholic Church. Obviously there’s another 3 million that’s being held up, by the way, by the Cubans, through their permitting process. We might have just gotten a few days ago permission with the other 3 million.
But we’re prepared to do more, but it has to be distributed by groups that are not linked to the regime or to that military company, GAESA, because they’ll just steal it and it’ll never get to the people.
QUESTION: One more question, if I may, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY RUBIO: All right.
QUESTION: On Ebola, you told us two days ago, when you stopped by the bullpen, that the WHO was “a little late” – were your words, I think – in identifying this strain. The WHO chief has now responded. He said it might be because you don’t understand the global health policy system. Do you have a response to that, sir?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. Well, the World Health Organization has unfortunately not done well around the world. I think they failed miserably during COVID; they covered for China. And that’s why we’re getting out of it. That said, we’re going to work with anybody who wants to fix that problem. Our number one objective on Ebola, before anything else – and we think it’s terrible what’s happening there. We’ve been very involved with DRC on the issue in Rwanda and so forth – but our number one thing has to be we can’t have it affect the United States. We can’t have Ebola cases coming here.
So you saw we’re now not allowing people to come in – in fact, I think we had a flight last night headed to Detroit that was diverted – because we have to protect the American people. So objective number one is to make sure that Ebola never reaches the United States.
Objective number two is do what we can to help the people of DRC and neighboring countries so it doesn’t spread. And I think we’re up to six-hundred confirmed cases; there are probably more. We’re learning more about it. We’re providing – I think we’ve offered to fund the first 50 clinics that pop up and are ready to step forward. So I wish we would’ve gotten started on this two weeks ago, that the alert had gone out sooner. I also recognize that this – the outbreak began in a war-torn country, in a very rural area that perhaps doesn’t have the same support network that some of the other places have.
But again, I want to repeat to everybody: We care about Ebola, we don’t want anyone dying or being affected by Ebola, but our number one priority will always be making sure it doesn’t come to the United States. That’s our number one obligation.
QUESTION: Can I – on NATO, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY RUBIO: On what?
QUESTION: There are some reports that the U.S. is going to say this week that it will reduce its contribution to the NATO Force Model, to shrink the number of forces available in a crisis, in an attack —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, that wouldn’t – first of all, any changes to our posture in NATO would not be for me to announce. That’s something that the President and Department of War would do. This is a foreign ministers meeting and we’ll talk about some of those issues. I don’t think anyone is shocked to know that the United States, and the President in particular, is very disappointed at NATO right now and what (inaudible). Understand that I’ve been a strong supporter of NATO my entire career. I’ve defended it. I believe it’s important. I believed it’s important.
But the number one thing I used to tell people was the reason why NATO is good for America – because that’s the question. Anytime you join anything, you have – the number one answer has to be, why is this good for America? The reason why NATO is good for America – I know why NATO is good for Europe, but why is NATO good for America? Because it gives us the bases in the region that allow us to project power during a contingency, in the Middle East or somewhere else. So when that is the key rationale for why you’re in NATO, and then you have countries like Spain denying us the use of these bases, well, then, why are you in NATO? That’s a very fair question.
Now, in fairness, the other question is – other countries in NATO have been very helpful. But we need to discuss that. That needs to be addressed, and that’s what I hope to address and to set the table for the leaders meeting which will be happening in Türkiye I think next month, if I’m not mistaken.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what will be —
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, does the administration still believe that your NATO Allies are cowards?
SECRETARY RUBIO: That what?
QUESTION: Does the administration still believe that your NATO Allies are cowards?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the President’s been – he is very disappointed. Understand that there are many countries in NATO that agree with us that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, that Iran is a threat to the world. So the President said, fine, I’m going to do something about it. He’s not asking them to commit troops. He’s not asking them to send their fighter jets in. But they refuse to do anything, and I – so I think the President looks at that and says, hold on a second. If all these countries around the world agree with us that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon and this regime is a threat to world peace and security, that already have missiles that can reach Europe – they don’t have missiles that could reach America yet, but they have missiles that could reach Europe – we’re actually stepping forward to do something about it, and everyone goes into hiding. Yeah, I think we were very upset about that. The President has made that very clear.
QUESTION: What can the U.S. do for India? India has been deeply affected by the energy supply, the shutting of the Strait of Hormuz. Can the U.S. provide more energy itself or what else can the U.S. do with that relationship?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, we want to sell them as much energy as they’ll buy. And obviously you’ve seen, I think, we’re at historic levels of U.S. production and U.S. export. We want to be able to do more. We were already in talks with them to do more. We want to be a bigger part of their – of their portfolio. We also think there’s an opportunity with Venezuelan oil. In fact, it’s my understanding that the interim president of Venezuela will be traveling to India next week as well. So there’s opportunities. There’s a lot to work on with India. They’re a great ally, a great partner; we do a lot of good work with them.
And so this is an important trip. I’m glad we’re able to do it, and I think there’ll be a lot to talk about. And we’ll also meet with the Quad there, which is important. It’s something – I think my first meeting as Secretary of State was with the Quad. So I believe, like, I went in and got sworn in, I did the thing in the lobby, and then I went right upstairs and that was my first meeting. And I’m glad that we’re able to do it now in India, and we’re going to do one later in India as well.
QUESTION: Can we just come back – can we come back to Iran? Finally, just the latest on the negotiations: Iranian state media is suggesting that the U.S. proposal has closed some of the gaps, or is potentially closing gaps. Are you —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah. Well, I don’t want to get ahead of things. Here’s – I think we’ve made some progress, but obviously we’re dealing with a system that itself is a little fractured, the Iranian system. And so – but that said, there’ll be a couple visits. I understand – I believe the Pakistanis will be traveling to Tehran today, so hopefully that will advance this further. The President’s preference is to do a good deal. That’s his preference. It’s always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great. I’m not here to tell you that it’s going to happen for sure, but I’m here to tell you that we’re going to do everything we can to see if we can get one.
But if we can’t get a good deal, the President’s been clear he has other options. I’m not going to elaborate on what those are, but everybody knows what those are. But his preference is always a deal. His preference is always an agreement. His preference is always diplomacy. So let’s see if we can get there. There’s some good signs, but we understand – I don’t want to be overly optimistic as well. So let’s see what happens over the next few days.
QUESTION: How do you intend to get Raúl Castro to the United States?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, that was the – a grand jury in South Florida returned an indictment on Raúl Castro. It has nothing to do with us. The grand jury – the evidence is clear; he admits to it. Raúl Castro openly admits and brags about he shot down civilian – he ordered to shoot down civilian airplanes.
QUESTION: How would you get him here?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, I’m not going to talk about how we’re going to get him here, but we were trying to get him. Why would I say to the media what our plans are around that? I know you have to ask, but why would I answer that? The bottom line, there’s a lot – at that point he becomes a fugitive of American justice, and what – if there’s an announcement (inaudible), we’ll tell you – we’ll tell you afterwards, not before.
Okay, a couple more and I’ve got to get on.
QUESTION: Do you still have conversations with Raúl Castro’s grandson, or as was reported earlier in the year?
SECRETARY RUBIO: You’re remaining – here’s the problem we have. We’ll engage with the Cubans. We have. Our ambassador met with them recently. The CIA director was down there a few weeks ago. There’s some State Department communications that occur. I just don’t see a lot of – at the end of the day, they’ve got to make a decision. Their system doesn’t work, right? Their economic system does not work. It’s broken. And you can’t fix it with the current political system that’s in place. They just don’t comprehend how to do it, and it’s a failed state. Like their economy and the model they’re trying to follow in Cuba doesn’t resemble what anyone’s doing anywhere in the world.
I mean, there are other ways to do it that can provide the people of Cuba prosperity and opportunity, and it’s what I said in the video to them the other day. You look at Cuba and the Bahamas and Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, here in Florida. Cuba is surrounded by places where people have the right to do things like own a business, work for themselves, and be able to vote for the leaders that govern them and/or replace them. So if that’s possible all around Cuba, why is it impossible – why is that not possible inside of Cuba?
And right now, there just seem to be people over there in charge of the regime who aren’t in any way open to any of those changes. And the things they talk about economically are cosmetic in nature – they’re not real – because that’s what they’ve gotten used to all these years. They’re just buying time and waiting us out. They’re not going to be able to wait us out or buy time. We’re very sturdy. We’re very focused.
As I told you a moment ago, in the context of Iran, the President’s preference is always a negotiated agreement that he – that’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba. I’m just being honest with you. The likelihood of that happening, given what we’re dealing with right now, is not high. But if they have a change of heart, we’re here, and in the meantime we’ll keep doing what we need to do.
QUESTION: It sounds a lot like nation building. The administration doesn’t believe in using force for nation —
SECRETARY RUBIO: No, that’s not nation building. It’s not nation building. It’s – we are addressing something that’s directly related to the security of the United States. We are involved in places all over the world. You’re asking me about Ebola. Important, but Ebola is in Africa. Cuba’s 90 miles from our shores.
So if you have a systemic meltdown in that country, which is where they’re headed – their power plants, by the way – the reason why the power plants break down – they’ve been having blackouts for years. They had major blackouts last year and they were still getting free Venezuelan oil. They haven’t spent a penny in fixing their energy production, their electrical grid. They don’t spend any money on that stuff. They pocket it.
They have a private military company named GAESA who’s sitting on $18 billion of assets, and not a penny of that transfers over to the state budget. Not a penny of that goes over to help the people of Cuba – not one cent. So even if they had all the diesel in the world, they still wouldn’t be able to generate energy because they’ve stolen the money and haven’t invested in their energy infrastructure.
So you’re heading towards a failed state. That’s what you have now. But it’s 90 miles from our shores. So we’ll be impacted by the migratory crisis, by any violence, instability that happens there. It’s a direct – it directly implicates the United States national interests.
So the future of Cuba belongs to the people of Cuba in terms of how they’re governed, what the system looks like, and so forth. But the national security component, that’s 100 percent something we’re going to focus on because that’s about America.
All right. Last one, guys.
QUESTION: Is the likelihood of – do you see the likelihood of the use of U.S. force to achieve a change in the Cuban political system as (inaudible)?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Our preference for Cuba and anywhere in the world is a negotiated diplomatic settlement, okay, and that’s what I would say to you. The President always has the option to do whatever it takes to support and protect the national interest and the national security of the United States. He has the option to do that if there’s a threat to the national security of the United States, and he has shown his willingness to do that when he identifies such a threat.
That said, our preference is always a diplomatic solution, always, and a negotiated agreement. That’s always our preference. But to answer your question, if there’s a threat to the national security of the United States, the President not just has the right, he has the obligation to address that national security threat.
All right, let’s go. You guys ready?
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