A drastically diminished Justice Department workforce is struggling to keep up with its civil side caseloads, according to documents obtained by The Hill and NewsNation, The Hill's sister network. A series of charts, apparently inadvertently shared and then recalled, show how the number of attorneys within the civil division has plummeted under the Trump administration. The charts substantiate a dynamic long suspected: that the Justice Department would not be able to swiftly replace a crew of veteran attorneys after a wave of firings and resignations.

Stacey Young, who founded the Justice Department alumni group Justice Connection, described the staff turnover as a massive exodus. The workload has skyrocketed, particularly in the civil division offices that have lost the most lawyers. So what we're seeing is that the lawyers who are left are overworked, stressed out, many have lost those who led their office because they were pushed out by this administration. And because of the difficult circumstances under which they're working, I expect that the rate of departures won't slow down anytime soon, she told The Hill. Putting out this data seems to me like a desperate cry for help. It seems like the civil division knows how badly it needs more funds to hire more lawyers to make up for the purge of longstanding experts that they caused. According to the Office of Personnel Management, the Justice Department has lost roughly 10,000 workers since the start of the Trump administration, a metric that includes component agencies like the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In graph after graph, the charts track data from the start of the Trump administration through August, showing a significant decline in civil division staff as caseloads have steadily ticked up. DOJ did not respond to request for comment to this story.

The shedding of staff

One chart reviewing impact on each branch within the division detailed how caseload was skyrocketing with work for the commercial litigation branch jumping a whopping 84 percent per attorney, while lawyers in the Office of Immigration Litigation saw their workload jump 63 percent. 

Attorneys who work on appeals saw their caseloads jump 54 percent while lawyers in the federal programs branch those who work on defending executive orders among other administration priorities saw their workloads jump 44 percent. The number of attorneys in the federal programs branch dropped from 113 to 71 just within the first few months of the Trump administration. A jump in cases has largely settled to around 1,000, but they are being handled by a diminished team. Jennifer Ricketts, a former Justice Department attorney who led the federal programs branch, said the swift exodus shows how many longtime attorneys who defended presidential priorities across administrations likely began looking for a new job as soon as President Trump won the election.

They were aware of how much in the first Trump administration they tried to stretch the law and put us in positions where we struggled to make sure we satisfied our professional responsibilities and folks did not want to have to go through that exercise again, she said of the branch. You don't get jobs really quickly. So they had already started looking after the election, so it was not tied to any specific decision. It was the anticipation of what they may do, especially given how aggressive they said they were going to be and how aggressive we had seen them be in Trump one . I think folks knew maybe not the scope of what was coming, but they knew none of it was going to be pleasant. One of the other most significant declines in staffing combined with one of the highest rises in cases was in the Office of Immigration Litigation, which has seen cases surge amid Trumps pledge to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in history. The Office of Immigration Litigation handles both individual immigration cases being heard at the Board of Immigration Appeals as well as immigration matters brought in federal district court, such as habeas corpus cases brought by migrants being held in detention. Habeas petitions have soared alongside detention rates as the administration has largely cut off access to bond hearings. One former staffer from the immigration office noted the steady decline in staff in that branch, with attorneys going from 320 down to 243 as cases climbed from roughly 7,700 to nearly 9,500. We never had attrition like we've had. Theres been a lot of reasons for that, the former staffer said. Early in the administration, the Justice Department moved the branchs leader to a new sanctuary city task force, and the Justice Department later made headlines for firing Erez Reuveni, a longtime Office of Immigration Litigation staffer, after he acknowledged in court that Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been mistakenly deported. When our colleague Erez Reuveni got fired, I think there were a lot of people that were saying, If that could happen to him that could happen to any of us, the former staffer continued. And I think that people just started looking, and you know, workloads gone up. The office has sort of tried to recover from those blows But it's been increasingly challenging for people to do that. I think there's a lot of unhappy people. With caseload going up and the resources going down, it just makes it challenging, they added. Also surprising is the attrition among appellate staff attorneys, though their ranks have been rising over the last several months.  It's a very plum section, very elite section, and if folks leave there, they would often go to the solicitor general's office or some other very prestigious placement, Ricketts said, referencing the team of attorneys for the solicitor who argue before the Supreme Court. While staffing in that branch hasnt dipped as much as others, their caseload has increased substantially because the Trump administration has been appealing so many of its losses in court. Though now down six attorneys from the 61 it began with, the number of appealed cases went from around 780 at the start of the administration to more than 1,100 last month. They will appeal everything. I mean, it does not appear to be an administration that takes losses. They do not seem to be worried about creating bad law in the court of appeals. They seem to be pursuing a very aggressive interpretation of executive branch authority, and so they are willing to roll the dice and take it up, Ricketts said.  I think my sense is they have a sense that the Supreme Court is willing to accept more of those ideas, what would have been considered extreme ideas, than we ever imagined, and so why not? Similarly to the Office of Immigration Litigation, the commercial litigation branch has also seen a consistent loss in staff dropping from 350 at the start of the administration down to 289 while caseloads have jumped from around 13,000 to nearly 19,000. Its hard to know what has driven the surge in caseload in the branch, which handles a wide variety of matters from cases where the government has a financial interest to intellectual property to those who represent the U.S. in cases in foreign courts. But it does include two areas where there has been more active litigation.

The commercial litigation branch includes fraud a topic of great interest to the Trump administration as it probes entitlement programs. It also handles cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board, the quasi judicial board responsible for reviewing federal employee workplace challenges, including wrongful termination cases that have surged as the Trump administration pushed to reduce the size of the government.

Making its case in a mistakenly shared email

After the email with the charts was sent last week, it was quickly recalled. Sources suspect the graphs are preparation for the next budget cycle. Somewhere along the line, somebody in the division or the department is going to use this data to justify asking for more resources, the former Office of Immigration Litigation staffer said. They noted that none of the graphs start its axis at zero, a choice that emphasizes the rise in cases and fall in staff. They ginned up the charts to make that visually apparent, they said. The Justice Department has already made efforts to recruit more staff. In May, the department promised something largely unheard of in the federal government a $25,000 signing bonus to those joining the civil division. But it's unclear if thats working. The Justice Department had never given signing bonuses to try to attract applicants. These jobs were some of the most competitive legal jobs in the field. The fact that they're now having to provide financial incentives for people to apply shows you just how desperate they are, Young said. And we know that job openings that used to attract hundreds or thousands of applications are now attracting almost none. The Justice Department took a number of actions shortly after Trump took office that flushed staff and prompted headlines. In the criminal division, the Justice Department fired those who had worked on cases involving Trump. In the civil division, many branch leaders were reassigned to take on unrelated work. The U.S. pardon attorney lost her job after she refused to certify that actor Mel Gibson should have his gun rights restored. And still more attorneys sought and gained jobs outside the department or availed themselves of a government buyout spearheaded by Elon Musk.  At the beginning of the administration, the Justice Department also withdrew offers to recent graduates who had been given entry level jobs through the prestigious Attorney Generals Honors Program, cutting off a pipeline of young attorneys from top schools who then rise through the ranks of the department. It reflects what we've been saying all along. This situation is untenable when you have an office that is experiencing a surge of cases because of this administration's lawless conduct at a time when lawyers are fleeing the department. The administration won't be able to defend itself in court, Young said. DOJ lawyers, in the best of times, are overworked. Their workloads right now have increased exponentially, especially when it comes to civil division lawyers, and as their workloads continue to increase, more will leave, and the problem will just keep getting worse and worse. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.This article originally appeared on The Hill at https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6110198-doj-staffing-crisis-trump/ Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000

In a single day in January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent more money than it had on any other day in either of President Trump's terms, federal spending records show.The agency advanced billions to Chicago Title Insurance in escrow to acquire detention facilities, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson. Over the next two months, ICE used $1.07 billion of the funds to purchase 11 warehouses it planned to convert to detention megacenters, seven of which the agency now plans to sell.The rest of the money sat with the firm for months after ICE abandoned the warehouse plan. In July and August, ICE moved $2.2 billion from Chicago Title to purchase four detention facilities from CoreCivic, a private prison company it separately pays to continue operating them.In its rush to expand detention capacity, ICE wasted millions of taxpayer dollars, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released Thursday. The agency failed to account for long-term costs in acquiring detention centers and lost $20 million in unrecoverable costs purchasing the warehouses it no longer plans to use, the review found. Even more could be lost if ICE sells the warehouses for less than what it paid for them, the GAO report said.Barring any undisclosed purchases, $1.55 billion still sits with Chicago Title Insurance for acquiring detention centers as ICE continues its push to double the number of detention beds in service of the president's mass deportation agenda. Just this week, ICE awarded several companies contracts that could reach a combined $10 billion to expand and construct new facilities. GAO concluded that "urgent planning" is necessary to reduce further waste. ICE said it would produce a strategic plan by Aug. 31, 2027, a date the watchdog said wasn't soon enough."We just saw a real lack of planning overall," said Heather MacLeod, director of Homeland Security and Justice at GAO. "The lack of planning has really led to stops and starts which have ultimately resulted in waste."GAO's report did not estimate a total amount potentially lost to waste, but MacLeod said another review of ICE spending is currently underway.Flush with cash after Congress funneled $75 billion to the agency including $45 billion to expand detention capacity through President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," ICE has nearly doubled its spending this year. The agency spent $19 billion from last October to July, the most recent month for which data is available, up from $11 billion the previous full fiscal year, a CBS News analysis of federal data found.A DHS spokesperson wrote to CBS News that ICE is "working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people's mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens," and that the spending bill known as OBBBA has provided "historic funding" to help it carry out the mandate. Appropriating funds outside of the typical process and without the usual guardrails that come in appropriations bills means ICE has more flexibility in how it can use the funding, said Kevin McNellis, a policy and budget analyst who previously worked in the Congressional Budget Office and Congressional Research Service. That also leads to a breakdown in oversight, he wrote in a report he authored for Co-Equal, a nonprofit focused on congressional authority. "When DHS only had annual funding or relied on the annual appropriations for the majority of its funding, there were long standing systems and processes in place for DHS to inform Congress of its spending plan and for Congress to then oversee those spending plans," McNellis told CBS News. "The situation we've been in since OBBBA passed is we have an unprecedented amount of money, appropriated outside those long-standing processes, trying to be spent very quickly."ICE paid an 11% to 13% premium on the 11 warehouses it purchased, according to CoStar, a real estate analytics firm. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed ICE to purchase new detention sites within 30 days, contributing to the high prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.The remaining warehouses ICE still hopes to convert face legal challenges, though ICE already signed contracts worth a combined $426 million to renovate two of them. No detainees are currently held in any of the warehouses.After dropping the warehouse plan, ICE spent $1.47 billion purchasing two California detention facilities from CoreCivic in July. The next month, ICE bought another two CoreCivic facilities in Kansas and Minnesota for a combined $734 million. In its announcement of the August purchases, CoreCivic said the company is in talks with ICE to sell more facilities.CoreCivic is using the profits from the sales to pay down its debts, according to company filings.GAO found that ICE had only forecasted costs for these centers and to-be-converted warehouses for the next three years, failing to consider how it would pay for them once the funds Congress has allocated through 2029 run out.The watchdog also found that through FEMA reimbursements, ICE paid the state of Florida almost triple its typical per-bed rate for two state-operated facilities, including the now-shuttered facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." ICE skipped typical contract negotiation practices, creating a new grant program with the state of Florida as the only eligible recipient, according to the GAO report. FEMA paid Florida a total of $608.4 million for "Alligator Alcatraz," GAO said.ICE is also paying more than it typically would per-bed to house noncitizen detainees at facilities operated by the Bureau of Prisons. BOP officials told GAO they've had to pay staff overtime and for temporary assignments to meet ICE's needs, resulting in a per-bed-rate double that of ICE's median rate. Another abandoned initiative GAO cited was ICE's efforts to launch detention facilities at military bases, like the one at Camp East Montana in El Paso. A previous GAO review found ICE spent $7.1 million on detainee meals it did not need at the El Paso facility. ICE dropped its plan to launch similar facilities on military installations in Indiana and New Jersey, GAO reported.ICE also spent $2.85 million on tents at Guantanamo Bay to house detainees that were never used. The facility, initially planned for 30,000 detainees, held only a handful. In May, CBS News reported that the Guantanamo Bay facility was holding just six detainees. The agency is still trying to house detainees on the naval base: this week it signed a contract with the same company it used to help procure the warehouses and acquire the CoreCivic facilities to construct a facility at Guantanamo Bay and at other sites.DHS's Inspector General is conducting its own audit into ICE's acquisition of detention space to determine whether it made purchases in a "cost-effective manner." The internal watchdog is also probing ICE spending on air charter services and its reporting on how it is using Big Beautiful Bill funds."We think it's important that DHS and ICE do develop a plan going forward tied to their needs and what they're trying to get out of their expansion efforts," said MacLeod, the GAO director. "We're encouraged to see that they agreed with our recommendation and we're hoping they'll take steps to address it quickly."This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-spending-detention-capacity-gao-report/ Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:33:10 +0000

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian flatly denied Thursday that Tehran wants a nuclear bomb while claiming Iran is willing to submit its nuclear program for international inspection, blaming Washington for the nearly seven-month war in the Middle East and accusing it of blocking diplomacy.Asked point-blank during an exclusive interview on Fox News "Special Report," "Do you want a nuclear bomb or not?" Pezeshkian firmly rejected the premise."Not at all. Not at all. Our martyred, esteemed supreme leader had announced several times that, from a religious decree, it is unholy. It is illegal," he told Bret Baier, referencing religious edicts issued against weapons of mass destruction.Iran 'Already Agreed' To Giving Up Nuclear Weapon Ambitions, Trump RevealsThe Iranian leader's public denial came amid long-term international scrutiny of Irans nuclear program and its enrichment of uranium to levels well beyond those typically used for civilian nuclear power.This became President Donald Trump's central rationale for launching Operation Epic Fury in February.Read On The Fox News AppOn Thursday, however, Pezeshkian indicated Tehran would be open to lowering its enrichment levels and allowing outside verification as part of an effort to ease nuclear tensions."So, that weapon's mass destruction. We said were willing to dilute them. Its not a big deal. We are willing to submit ourselves to verification," he said.Pezeshkian also pointed to the failed memorandum of understanding, or MOU, signed by him and President Donald Trump in June intended to halt hostilities and establish a framework for a broader U.S.-Iran agreement.The process was intended by Washington to lead to an end to Irans nuclear ambitions and included a 60-day process toward that final agreement."We have no problems. We did reach an agreement with your president," Pezeshkian said of Trump, who signed the agreement."That agreement was signed, and, based on that, we are willing and still wish to move forward.Iran Nuclear Deal Hinges On Iaea Access To Long-blocked Atomic Weapon Sites, Experts Say

"And the framework was agreed upon. We had not closed the Strait of Hormuz; it was open without any legal justification or framework," he said."They attacked us. They assassinated and martyred our esteemed supreme leader, our scientists, our military commanders and government."Pezeshkian then criticized Washington for the subsequent breakdown in diplomacy but insisted Tehran remains prepared to reach an agreement."The problem is that America, instead of conducting dialog, they descend into the arena by bombing us first, by blocking every pathway. We are ready," he said."This is not the way to conduct yourself on the world stage. They can have free access to see whatever we have, but not to put us under such pressure, under blockades, deny us access."Pezeshkian also placed broader blame on Washington for the war."We do not seek to kill Americans, as shown by actions, demonstrable actions. America has sought to kill Iranians," Pezeshkian said. "What we know is that if were attacked, we must defend ourselves."Trump Bets Economic Pressure Can Squeeze Iran As Regimes Own Failures Deepen The PainAddressing U.S. military strikes including Operation Outcast and increasing secondary sanctions, Pezeshkian said Iran would continue resisting Washingtons campaign."This is something that has been the doing of the United States," he said. "We will keep resisting. We will find ways, and the life of our country will continue. We will remain."Yes, we do have economic issues, certainly. But in order to remain, we will go through any hardship and endure."If America thinks that they can keep sanctioning us, we have nothing to do, nor do we consider any type of American elections. If the current American government, within international legal frameworks, wishes to reach an agreement, fine. If not, before the elections or after the elections, what difference does it make for us?"Pezeshkian repeated that Iran does not want the war to continue, while blaming Israel for helping provoke the conflict and putting responsibility on Washington to bring it to an end.Trump Gives Every Nation An Easy Choice: Do Business With America Or Terrorist Iran

"We will stand resolutely to defend ourselves. We never sought war. We do not seek war," he said."I deeply believe that humans should not cause the death of another human. But with the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us."But we do not wish to continue. Its America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not."The Iranian president also addressed reports that Iranian forces used Chinese satellite imagery to carry out a deadly strike on a U.S. base in Jordan. The attack resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members.When questioned about the reports, Pezeshkian denied direct knowledge.Click Here To Download The Fox News App"Im specifically unaware of these purported images that you talk about," Pezeshkian said."Now, what do militaries do with one another between two countries? It is their own business within their own guidelines."
Original article source: Iranian president blames US for Middle East conflict while denying nuclear ambitions, offers to dilute uraniumThis article originally appeared on Fox News at https://www.foxnews.com/world/iranian-president-blames-us-middle-east-conflict-denying-nuclear-ambitions-offers-dilute-uranium Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:25:36 +0000

US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping exchanged warm words at a lavish White House state dinner but gave little indication of progress on pressing issues.Xi stressed that they should ensure AI remain "under human control" and act "as responsible major countries", while Trump toasted a future of "harmony, peace and success" for both nations.But tensions remain despite the diplomatic niceties, including over Taiwan - with Xi urging Trump earlier in the day to take the "correct position" on the self-governing island which Beijing claims, amid a weapons package paused by Trump.Billionaire business leaders and US tech CEOs joined the leaders at the extravagant dinner late on Thursday.Their arrival was marked by protesters shouting from just outside the White House gates, some of whom were arrested.Trump lavished praise on Xi during his first visit to the US in over a decade, telling those attending the dinner that while the two countries had "different systems", they had "never gotten along better".Xi meanwhile welcomed the "historic juncture" in US-China relations - and said both leaders' ambitions could "surely be mutually reinforcing"."China and the United States must act as responsible major countries to meet the expectations of our peoples, keep pace with the trend of our times, and explore a new approach for major countries to get along with each other," he said.While Xi said he and Trump had shared "in-depth exchanges and reached common understanding on many issues", little mention was made of the crucial matters which divide the leaders of the world's two most powerful countries.China believes the US is trying to contain its rise as a superpower, and it wants Washington to stay out of its way - particularly when it comes to trade, technology and Taiwan.Trump has meanwhile been expected to aim for deals around trade and tariffs during the visit like lowering Chinese tariffs on American goods, increasing imports of Chinese rare earth minerals, and increasing exports of US agricultural products.

Trump has been blunt about his ambitions for artificial intelligence (AI) - and clear that he considers China to be the US's main rival for its development.But beyond Xi's reference to AI remaining under "human control", little indication was given of what progress the two leaders may have made on the issue during their talks.The dinner also came just hours after Chinese state media reported Xi had, behind closed doors, advised Washington to handle "with prudence" its approach to Taiwan. Washington is yet to comment publicly on the remarks.The US is legally bound to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but Trump delayed approving a $14bn (11bn) arms package for it after Xi in May warned that mishandling the issue could cause the two countries to "collide or even enter into conflict".At the time, Trump called it a "very good negotiating chip" with Beijing.

• Xi visit to Washington all pomp but little progress so far
• Trump and Xi come face-to-face as US and China battle to win the AI race
• Xi got Trump's red carpet welcome - but not everything he wanted

The evening marked a continuation of the lavish welcome Xi has so far received in the US.Trump presented the Chinese president with a sculpture of a bald eagle - America's national symbol - saying it embodied "the free and soaring spirit of America". First Lady Melania had participated in its design, Trump added.Others in attendance included key White House figures, such as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, chief of staff Monica Crowley, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.They were joined by scores of US officials, as well as conservative broadcasters, tech industry bosses, social media CEOs and corporate executives. Apple's Tim Cook and Nvidia's Jensen Huang were seated at the same table as Trump and Xi, as was Elon Musk, who previously worked in Trump's administration leading the effort to shrink government.OpenAI's Sam Altman, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were also present, as were Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Yass, the American billionaire who owns a share of TikTok.

The leaders of companies including General Motors, Visa, Paramount Skydance and ExxonMobil could also be seen in the room."Everybody wanted to be there," Trump said ahead of the event. "I would say you have the entire tech world, the entire banking world, and a lot more."One notable absence was Anthropic - one of the biggest and most valuable AI firms in the world. The BBC has asked Anthropic if it was invited, or if they chose not to be there.

The office of the First Lady Melania Trump, which planned the event, said the dinner menu would showcase "American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence".The first course was yellow squash, wild mushrooms and crispy pancetta. The guests ate off red tablecloths - red being a symbol of luck and good fortune in China.For their main course they dined on a sesame-crusted sea bass, braised bok choy and roasted eggplant.Dessert featured the two leaders and their fellow diners tucking into vanilla crmeux with sour cherry confit, with an accompanying ice cream "made with harvested White House honey".The wine chosen by the first lady included Schramsberg Blanc De Noir - a nod to President Nixon's 1972 "Toast to Peace" with former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, when they used a bottle from the same vineyard.Trump and Xi will begin the final day of their visit on Friday with tea at the White House's Red Room with their wives. The group will then head to the US National Archives for a tour of the building and its exhibits. Formally called the National Archives and Records Administration, the building holds some of the most important documents regarding the founding of the United States - including the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.Xi and his wife will depart Washington later in the day.This article originally appeared on BBC at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cxq63dqp93n1o?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:15:02 +0000

Washington The U.S. Army Reserve is examining whether it can provide the military's Southern Command with police forces, medical personnel and other support units within the next four months, according to an internal Army message reviewed by CBS News.Though the message makes no reference to Cuba, the request is for continued military planning aimed at Cuba, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.There is no indication in the document that any units have received deployment orders. But the planning comes as the Trump administration puts intense economic pressure on Cuba and urges the island nation to make political reforms.The message does not identify how many troops would be needed in the Southern Command's region, which covers Central and South America, including the Caribbean. It also does not specify where the forces could be sent or what operation they would support. The document reviewed by CBS News says Army Reserve headquarters is seeking feedback from subordinate commands on the possible availability of six types of formations that would fall under the authority of U.S. Southern Command. The units would "possibly [be] needed in 90-120 days," according to the message, which directs commands to provide feedback to Army Reserve headquarters by Sept. 25. Among the units is a combat sustainment support battalion that specializes in coordinating logistics such as transportation, maintenance, fuel and supply needs, along with an engineer battalion. The document also seeks an expeditionary sustainment command that would oversee logistics across a theater of operations. The document generated last week also calls for a medical brigade to command and coordinate medical units, as well as a forward resuscitative and surgical detachment to provide emergency surgery and trauma care closer to U.S. forces. Finally, the document seeks a military police brigade these units typically oversee military police forces responsible for security, detention and other law enforcement missions. Contacted by CBS News, the Army Reserve did not respond before publication. A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command said: "Due to operational security concerns, we do not disclose details or comment on U.S. operational movements or potential deployment timelines associated with current or future operations, contingencies, or planning. However, U.S. Southern Command continuously coordinates with the Joint Force to assess a range of potential requirements across its [area of responsibility] in support of assigned missions." Earlier this year, American forces conducted reconnaissance operations on the seafloor and maritime approaches surrounding the Cuban island, multiple U.S. military personnel told CBS News. Separately, U.S. airpower components were placed on heightened readiness and directed to pre-stage personnel for potential deployment. Those plans, however, did not come to fruition. CBS News is withholding certain details from publication that could potentially put U.S. service members at risk.CBS News reported in May that U.S. intelligence officials were assessing how Cuba would respond to possible U.S. military action, as the Trump administration accused Havana of strengthening ties with Russia, China and Iran. The intelligence community's 2026 annual threat assessment largely portrays Cuba as an enabling environment for larger geopolitical competitors, rather than as an independent strategic threat.In July, CBS News reported that American military planners had examined a range of options for possible action against the island, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of U.S. soldiers to be carried out by the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for such a task. U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News stressed in July that the briefings were not an indication that the president or the Pentagon had decided to go forward with an operation.Since reentering office, President Trump has asserted a more muscular U.S. role in the Western Hemisphere under what officials have dubbed the "Donroe Doctrine," a Trump-era corollary to the Monroe Doctrine focused on limiting foreign adversaries and other perceived threats in the region. In April, American and Ecuadorian troops launched a joint mission aimed at dismantling a suspected criminal hub operated by a narco-terrorist organization. On Thursday, U.S. troops and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration assisted Ecuadorian authorities in arresting more than 30 members affiliated with Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Since September, the U.S. military has killed more than 230 people in 70 strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. The operations are a stark contrast from the U.S. military's historical role of maritime drug interdiction and arrest. Some legal experts have said the strikes amount to illegal extrajudicial killings because U.S. forces are prohibited from intentionally targeting civilians or individuals suspected of criminal activity, unless they meet the legal standard governing the use of military force. For Cuba, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Cuban entities and officials, including military research and development enterprises tied to the country's nickel industry ahead of the U.N. General Assembly this week. In New York, Mr. Trump told the U.N. General Assembly that his administration was seeking a "fundamental change" on the island and predicted Cuba's communist government "will fall" and declared that "freedom will be coming to Cuba." The Cuban delegation walked out during his remarks. Mr. Trump also said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was "deep into negotiations" with Havana and vowed that the United States would not allow foreign adversaries to establish a strengthening foothold "on our own doorstep." Those remarks follow months of increasingly explicit statements from Mr. Trump about Cuba. Meanwhile, Cuban President Miguel Daz-Canel has vowed to counter any U.S. attack, and has accused the U.S. of "aggression" and "economic warfare" by blocking oil imports to Cuba.Earlier this year, Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he believed he would have "the honor of taking Cuba." "Taking Cuba in some form, yeah," he said in mid-March. "Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it I think I could do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth." Later that month, Mr. Trump said bluntly: "Cuba's going to be next." This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-groundwork-potential-action-cuba-trump/ Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:36:25 +0000