Trump’s Military Rebuild Strategy Targets Global Communist Powers, Former Defense Official Warns

By Jim Mishler | Monday, 22 December 2025 06:44 PM EST

Former Under Secretary of Defense Robert Wilkie said Monday that President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela is among the factors driving his push to rebuild the U.S. military.

“President Trump inherited the smallest United States Navy since 1938. That is what he is addressing as we speak,” Wilkie stated.

The global situation, he said, involves China particularly. “The Chinese are expanding their fleet exponentially. They are challenging American supremacy in the Pacific.”

Wilkie added that Trump is rapidly moving to rebuild the War Department after serious lapses were allowed under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The administration’s actions against Venezuela, including seizing oil tankers, have also impacted Cuba, Wilkie said. “A couple of weeks ago, the Venezuelans gave 100,000 barrels of oil a day, almost free of charge, to Cuba because President Trump is now clamped down on that. It’s now below 40,000,” he said.

“Cubans aren’t eating. They have no electricity.”

Wilkie noted that communists in Cuba are facing significant challenges. “The Communist Party is experiencing its greatest crisis since Fidel [Castro] took power in 1959,” he said.

“And I think that’s really at the heart of what the president is doing to chase the communists, the Chinese, the Iranians out of our hemisphere.”

Wilkie warned that Venezuela faces no chance of survival if tensions escalate. “I mean, if Donald Trump can destroy in less than 12 hours the entire Iranian nuclear apparatus, it’s not going to take that much to take out Maduro,” he said.

“This is just typical dictator bombast,” Wilkie added.