Trump and Rubio allies are vying for control of Cuba’s assets if regime falls

“If I had done during the Biden administration what Trump’s friends have done now, I’d have been put in jail,” said a person with several decades of experience in Cuba policy who requested anonymity…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/17/trump-marco-rubio-cuba

 

Red Scare Rising (Conspirituality podcast)

Back in the fall, Trump's NSPM-7 redirected the FBI, DOJ, and IRS toward "left-wing political violence," opening the door to labeling domestic groups terrorist organizations — despite three independent datasets (New America, CSIS, even the ADL!) showing right-wing violence outpacing left-wing violence by factors of 9-to-1 or greater. Last week, Rubio's "Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism" internationalized this McCarthy reboot.

Central to the rhetoric of Rubio and Miller is framing leftist politics as being driven by envy and resentment rather than a response to inequality. Matthew traces this rhetoric, empirically contradicted by relative deprivation research, back through Nietzsche, Scheler, Schoeck, and Rand.

Four days after the Ministerial, the State Department's Cuba report named 70+ Americans — from spies to wedding guests — as one undifferentiated network, a scapegoat machine now churning out congressional subpoenas, a federal grand jury, and a widening dragnet.
Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/brief-red-scare-rising

Weekly Roundup: The Odyssey, Christian Nationalism, and the Invention of “Western Civilization” (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

Brad Onishi and Dan Miller explore the American right’s furious reaction to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and what the controversy reveals about race, representation, gender, sexuality, and the politics of “Western civilization.” From outrage over Black actors and queer representation in contemporary adaptations to the right’s insistence that certain stories, traditions, and cultural identities belong exclusively to white people, the conversation examines why the boundaries of “the West” are constantly being defended—and who gets pushed outside them.

The discussion then turns to the rise of civilizational populism and its growing influence on the American right. Brad and Dan unpack how appeals to “Western Christian civilization” are being used to unite Christian nationalists, technocrats, billionaires, and authoritarian political actors around a shared vision of cultural hierarchy and social order. They connect the backlash over The Odyssey to Marco Rubio’s foreign policy, the politics of Venezuela, the disputed results of a national civics competition, and the broader question of who gets to represent the future of America.
Interview: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/weekly-roundup-the-odyssey-christian-nationalism/id1441649707?i=1000778249717

'Dumbest thing I've read in 14 years': Dem Rep. blasts Trump admin report detailing Cuban threat

On Monday, the State Department released a 100-page report titled "Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism", which blames the country for the rise of Democratic socialism and warns that it is a threat to the United States. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), who just returned from a trip to Cuba, joins Antonia Hylton with his reaction to the report.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Xnp6EPiS4

 

"Disrupt, Identify, Defund, Debank, Arrest & Prosecute": Trump Admin Threatens leftist groups

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s-8eN3Mks8

 

‘Enemies of civilization’: top Trump officials attack leftwing activism as 'encroaching darkness'

The conference, convened by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and attended by Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser, and Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, was billed as a “ministerial on the resurgence of political violence”, but the focus was solely on crushing leftist violence. It came as Donald Trump ramps up his efforts to label his political opponents, and a rising number of politicians identified with the Democratic Socialists of America as “communists”. 

The officials did not mention episodes of rightwing attacks, such as the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/16/political-violence-event-trump-marco-rubio

 

Ilhan Omar introduces resolution urging US to join international criminal court

Exclusive: bill from Democratic lawmaker comes two days after Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle war crimes tribunal…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/15/ilhan-omar-icc-membership-resolution 

 

Israel and Lebanon sign framework agreement with US in ‘first step’ toward peace, Rubio says - POLITICO

The agreement does not include Hezbollah. One of the militant group’s officials in Lebanon warned of civil war...

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/26/israel-and-lebanon-sign-framework-agreement-with-us-in-first-step-toward-peace-rubio-says-00978447  

This Is Christian Nationalism: Breaking Down Rededicate 250 (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

Sunday's nine-hour “Rededicate 250” event on the National Mall brought together politicians and religious leaders calling for America to be returned to God. In this episode, Brad Onishi breaks down key statements from figures like Robert Jeffress, Mike Johnson, Pete Hegseth, and Marco Rubio, exposing how their claims rely on selective history, mythmaking, and a deeply misleading vision of the founding. From the Doctrine of Discovery to the legend of Washington at Valley Forge, the story being told isn’t just inaccurate—it’s strategic.

This episode argues that Christian nationalism is not about personal faith or patriotism, but about power: the belief that certain religious identities deserve greater authority in public life. By revisiting the Constitution, the founding era, and the principle of “we the people,” Brad shows what’s actually at stake—religious freedom, democratic equality, and the boundary between church and state. The question isn’t whether religion belongs in American life, but whether the government gets to decide whose religion counts.
Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/this-is-christian-nationalism-breaking-down-rededicate-250?hsLang=en

The evangelical primary has already started. Rubio has the early edge on Vance. - POLITICO

For many in these circles, it comes down to a simple calculus: Rubio has spent decades earning their trust on faith and policy — while Vance, despite his platform and base, has left key anti-abortion and pro-Israel constituencies on edge...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/19/evangelicals-2028-rubio-vance-00926613

 

Rubio says Vatican trip not aimed at assuaging tensions with Pope Leo - POLITICO

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has escalated his attacks on the pope in recent weeks, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” in a social media tirade last month.

 “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”…

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/05/rubio-vatican-pope-leo-00907313

 

 

US directs American embassies to wage campaign against foreign ‘hostility’ – with Musk’s help

The United States has directed every American embassy and consulate across the world to launch coordinated campaigns against foreign propaganda and endorses Elon Musk's X as an "innovative" tool to help do it…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/30/embassies-campaign-marco-rubio-elon-musk

 

Rubio plans travel to France to sell Iran war to skeptical G7 allies : NPR

"Areas of focus will include the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation in the Middle East, and threats across the world to peace and stability," the department said in a statement released amid conflicting accounts over whether the U.S. and Iran are talking about a resolution to the conflict...

 https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/g-s1-115053/rubio-plans-travel-to-france-to-sell-iran-war-to-skeptical-g7-allies

Report: US Officials Detect Drones over Army Base Where Rubio, Hegseth Live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eY7D11oAKo

 

How State Department cuts of Middle East experts affect U.S.'s handling of Iran war | PBS News

The Trump administration has left the assistant secretary position in charge of Near Eastern Affairs vacant, along with key ambassadorships in the Middle East. Four of the five supervisors in the bureau have temporary titles. 

The current and former officials, some of whom asked for anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters during an active conflict, paint a portrait of an understaffed government workforce struggling to execute the president's agenda. Those who remain tell colleagues that their analysis, recommendations and advice go unheeded...

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/how-state-department-cuts-of-middle-east-experts-affect-u-s-s-handling-of-iran-war 

 

Rubio calls for new Cuban leaders as blackout underscores economic crisis | PBS News

The administration is looking for President Miguel Díaz-Canel to leave as the U.S. continues negotiating with the Cuban government, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of talks between Washington and Havana. No detail has been offered about who the administration might like to see come to power. 

Many Cubans do not believe that Díaz-Canel holds much power in Cuba, anyway, as opposed to revolutionary founding father Raúl Castro and his family.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/rubio-calls-for-new-cuban-leaders-as-blackout-underscores-economic-crisis 

 

Data? What Data? | Paula Poundstone

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/us5ul-RB6xI

 

US strikes on Iran triggered by Israel’s plan to launch attack, Rubio says

"This is Trump's war. This is a war of choice. He has no strategy, he has no endgame," the Senate's Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer said before going into the briefing. 

As he exited, Schumer said that lawmakers present asked "a whole lot of questions" but he found the officials' responses "completely and totally insufficient. In fact, at least to me, that briefing raised many more questions than it answered."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/02/rubio-us-attack-israel-iran

Rubio's war remarks blow open MAGA's Israel divide

The big picture: Rubio's remarks were widely interpreted as making the U.S. look subordinate to Israel's interests. And they inflamed already angry MAGA elites who had spent the day railing against President Trump's decision to go to war. 

 On their podcasts and social media, frustrated pro-Trump influencers argued the president had become beholden to the military hawks and neocons he explicitly ran against...

https://www.axios.com/2026/03/03/rubio-trump-iran-israel-attacks 

 

Sec. Rubio touts "shared Christian heritage" at Munich conference

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GyBuJ1gK_KI