Skip to content
RollCall logo

Obama to Havana? Would ‘Relish’ Cuba Trip

Alan Gross got a standing ovation during the State of the Union Address. He was freed after 5 years in a Cuban prison. Obama now wants to visit Havana. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Alan Gross got a standing ovation during the State of the Union Address. He was freed after 5 years in a Cuban prison. Obama now wants to visit Havana. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
By Steven T. Dennis
Posted May 21, 2015 at 3:05pm

President Barack Obama’s bucket list for his remaining time in office has at least one sunny destination on it: Havana, Cuba.  

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told a reporter in town from Cuba that the president “would relish the opportunity” to visit Havana in 2016.  

Earlier, Earnest welcomed the reporter to the United States and the White House. In response to other questions, he said one area of discussion regarding the president’s plans to reopen diplomatic ties with Cuba involves ensuring access by American diplomats to the Cuban people.  

Obama has lifted some travel restrictions. And the president, a former smoker, has also loosened rules on bringing Cuban cigars back from the island.  


The 114th: CQ Roll Call’s Guide to the New Congress


Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call in your inbox or on your iPhone.

Recent Stories

Speaker Mike Johnson and his wife, Kelly, pose with West Virginia lawmakers and fourth grader Ethan Reese in front of the Capitol Christmas Tree on Tuesday.

Speaker Mike Johnson invokes ‘reason for the season’ at Capitol Christmas Tree lighting

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., conducts a swearing-in ceremony with Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol after she was sworn in on the House floor on Tuesday.

Celeste Maloy sworn in; House now at full capacity

Martin O’Malley, nominee to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration, testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing on Nov. 2.

Biden pick for Social Security chief OK’d by Senate panel

Capitol Lens | Air apparent

Rachel Kyte, former climate envoy at the World Bank, says there’s urgency for a loss and damage fund.

Fund for developing nations headlines global climate conference

Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, conducts a May news conference on the investigation into the Biden family's “influence peddling to enrich themselves."

Hunter Biden agrees to testify at panel hearing, but not closed-door deposition