During Inter Miami’s White House visit, Donald Trump managed to turn a routine MLS Cup celebration into a mini foreign‑policy rally about Cuba. Standing beside co‑owner Jorge Mas, whose parents fled the island and who now chairs the Cuban American National Foundation, Trump praised the team and then pivoted, saying “what’s happening with Cuba is amazing” before promising that after the Iran war is “finished,” it will only be “a question of time before you and a lot of unbelievable people are going to be going back to Cuba — hopefully not to stay.”
In another clip, he congratulates the Mas brothers and adds, “You’re going to go back. And you won’t need my approval. You just fly back in. It’s going to be a great day,” effectively telling a Cuban‑American owner that a return “home” is part of his second‑term agenda.
The comments landed in a very split way. Hard‑line exile circles and right‑wing outlets framed it as a long‑awaited promise to “free Cuba from communist dictatorship,” celebrating Trump’s hint that Havana is “next” after Tehran and sharing the Inter Miami clip as proof that regime‑change talk is moving from vague rhetoric to public staging.
@dr..love649 Inter Miami owner #leomessi #whitehorse #intermiamicf #trump
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Critics, including plenty of Cuban‑Americans online, heard something closer to a polished version of “go back where you came from,” pointing out that Mas is a US‑born billionaire whose life and business are firmly rooted in Miami, and that telling him he’ll be “going back” once Washington is done with Iran plays straight into the ugliest parts of diaspora politics. The fact that Trump described Cuba’s blackout crisis and oil shortage as “icing on the cake” of US pressure only sharpened the sense that this wasn’t just a sentimental homecoming line, but a public flex about how much pain America can inflict on the island.
For Jorge Mas, the moment underlined how his personal story keeps getting folded into someone else’s script. His father built CANF as a Reagan‑era, anti‑Castro lobbying machine, but Mas himself has taken a more moderate tone, even talking about gradual change and engagement in past interviews. Now his club’s biggest PR win—Messi at the White House—is also the backdrop for Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to telegraph that “your next one is gonna be Cuba,” using Mas as a stand‑in for the whole exile community.
It’s classic Trump optics: a sports photo op repurposed as a teaser trailer for the next foreign‑policy fight, with a Cuban‑American co‑owner told, on camera, that he’s “going back” whether he was asking for that storyline or not. For a detailed breakdown of the exchange and quotes, you can read AOL’s report here.
