![\"Silvio](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MIA_000TRUMPRALLYAF.JPG\" "\\"Silvio")
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Silvio Rodriguez holds an American and Cuban flag at a rally for Donald Trump in Miami Lakes on June 14, 2020. <\/p>\n
ALEXIA FODERE<\/p>\n
Miami Herald<\/p>\n
Cubans and Cuban Americans in South Florida broadly support Donald Trump\u2019s approach to the island, although that backing falls off sharply for the administration\u2019s mass deportation of Cubans, direct negotiations with Fidel Castro\u2019s regime and the prospect of economic reforms without regime change, according to a new poll conducted for the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n
South Florida Cuban American voters helped Trump deliver his decisive win for a second presidential term in 2024, but the poll findings revealed key departures within one of Trump\u2019s loyal bases ahead of a challenging midterm election cycle for Republicans.<\/p>\n
While Trump\u2019s approval ratings have plummeted nationwide, a sweeping 67% of poll respondents said they support Trump\u2019s handling of Cuba policy. Approval numbers were even higher for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, himself a Cuban American from Miami.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Cuban Americans support U.S. military attack on Cuba, reject economic deal, poll shows<\/a><\/p>\n But when it came to other key actions taken by Trump\u2019s administration, that solid backing began to waver among Cuban Americans, who make up one of the president\u2019s most ardent pockets of support in South Florida:<\/p>\n Only 46% of respondents said they approve of the Trump administration negotiating directly with Cuba\u2019s current Communist government, as it has been.About 28% of respondents said they approve of the Trump administration\u2019s increased deportations of Cubans.And just 19% said they\u2019d be satisfied with an agreement that leads to economic reforms in Cuba without regime change.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re saying, \u2018Whoa, yes, we want engagement, yes, we trust President Trump and we trust Secretary Rubio and what they\u2019re doing. But this has got to end in a change, a radical change of governance on the island,\u201d said Bendixen & Amandi President Fernand Amandi.<\/p>\n The poll, conducted from April 6-10, surveyed 800 randomly selected Cubans and Cuban Americans living in South Florida, from the Florida Keys to Palm Beach County. The phone survey, conducted by polling firms Bendixen & Amandi International and The Tarrance Group, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Of the respondents who were registered voters, 57% were Republicans and 17% were Democrats. A majority, 64%, were over the age of 50.<\/p>\n Air Force veteran and retired professional pilot Armando Lopez came to the U.S. in 1961 and was among the broad base of older Trump supporters who responded to the poll. He said he\u2019s still waiting on the results he believes Trump will deliver in Cuba.<\/p>\n \u201cI love Trump, to me he is the best we ever had. How he\u2019s handling Cuba, so far he\u2019s doing great, but he hasn\u2019t done much for Cuba. What\u2019s happening with Cuba is just a reflection of what happened in Venezuela,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lopez wants to see regime change on the island and wouldn\u2019t view it as a victory if there are only economic changes without new leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be upset with Trump because he has done more than anybody else, but I would say that we have not won much if that happens,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lopez\u2019s cautious hope for change in Cuba is similar to what conservative political groups told the Herald they\u2019re hearing from the voters they want to turn out to the polls in November.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the president\u2019s been clear how that\u2019s going to be achieved. Do we want a free Cuba? Absolutely, where people have a real, true democracy where they vote for their leaders \u2014 we support that 100%,\u201d said David Santiago, the strategic director at LIBRE Florida, a conservative Latino voter outreach group. \u201cThe concern for us lies in how does that get achieved and how is he going to go about it? So we\u2019re kind of waiting to see what that really could look like.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. has been holding back-channel talks with Cuba, including relatives of Ra\u00fal Castro and his inner circle<\/a>, about gradually easing crippling U.S. sanctions in exchange for Cuban leaders enacting changes on the island. Cuba\u2019s handpicked president Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel has said<\/a> he won\u2019t step down from power and will resist pressure from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Poll respondents who said they have no party affiliation \u2014 a group Democrats see as a key demographic to win over \u2014 were evenly split on their approval and disapproval of Trump\u2019s Cuba policy in the poll.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Cuban Americans split from Trump on deportations, treatment of Cuban migrants, poll shows<\/a><\/p>\n The poll also found less support for Trump\u2019s policies from young Cubans and Cuban-Americans. That group was far less likely to grant blanket approval for Trump and Rubio\u2019s approach to Cuba than their older counterparts. Just 44% of respondents under 35 said they approved of Trump\u2019s handling of U.S. policy toward Cuba.<\/p>\n That group was also more likely than older respondents to be satisfied with economic changes on the island even if they don\u2019t result in regime change.<\/p>\n The strongest sentiment across the survey was on issue of the U.S. possibly reaching an agreement with Cuba that allows the current government to remain in power even if there are significant economic reforms: 69% of respondents said they strongly disapprove of any such deal. Among voters with no party affiliation who responded to the survey, 67% felt the same way.<\/p>\n Only the young Cubans and Cuban-Americans in South Florida were open to that possibility: 38% of respondents under 35 said they\u2019d approve of such a deal.<\/p>\n This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 5:30 AM.<\/p>\n Poll results from a survey of 800 Cubans and Cuban-Americans living in South Florida. Screen capture Bendixen & Amandi International and The Tarrance Group <\/p>\n
Poll results from a survey of 800 Cubans and Cuban-Americans living in South Florida. Screen capture Bendixen & Amandi International and The Tarrance Group <\/p>\n
Poll results from a survey of 800 Cubans and Cuban-Americans living in South Florida. Screen capture Bendixen & Amandi International and The Tarrance Group <\/p>\n