Cuba's biggest threat to U.S. is collapse, says former defense secretary

Face The Nation Cuba's biggest threat to U.S. is collapse, says former Defense Secretary Robert Gates .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-face-the-nation.jpg'); } By Caitlin Yilek Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation. Read Full Bio Caitlin Yilek May 15, 2026 / 4:28 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google As President Trump makes threats against Cuba, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the biggest risk the Communist-ruled island poses to the U.S. is its potential collapse and a migration crisis to the U.S."The biggest risk is that we end up with another Mariel evacuation from Cuba that has tens of thousands of Cubans heading to the United States out of desperation," Gates said Friday in an interview with "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." Known as the Mariel Boatlift, about 125,000 Cubans sought refuge in the U.S. in 1980, as Cuba's failing economy led to dissent on the island. The mass exodus strained social services in Florida and led the state and federal governments to declare a state of emergency. Gates said Cuba's involvement in other events, such as providing security for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has "impacted" U.S. national security, but questioned whether Cuba poses an "imminent threat" to the U.S. "Other than in these, if you will, peripheral ways, I think the main threat is, frankly, is collapse," he said. President Trump has threatened the possibility of military action against Cuba for months and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called for economic and political reforms. The Trump administration has been trying to squeeze Cuba's economy by imposing an oil blockade that experts say has pushed the nation...