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The Latest: US indicts former Cuban President Raúl Castro over 1996 downing of planes.Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with ordering the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles, a major escalation of pressure by the Trump administration on the socialist government.President Donald Trump has set a calamitous energy blockade on the island and has been threatening military action ever since U.S.forces captured the Cuban government's longtime patron, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.Two police officers who helped defend the U.S.Capitol from an attack by a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters sued Wednesday to block anyone — including Jan.6, 2021, rioters — from receiving payouts from a new nearly $1.8 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions.The lawsuit's filing comes a day after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, during his congressional testimony, wouldn't rule out the possibility of fund payouts for rioters who assaulted police on Jan.Also, Trumpscored another win Tuesday against a Republican rival, dislodging Rep.Thomas Massie in Kentucky's primary and knocking out one of his most outspoken critics on Capitol Hill.Massie has been a particularly difficult thorn in Trump's side, pushing for the release of the Epstein files, opposing the war with Iran and voting against Trump's signature tax legislation last year.government will permanently drop tax claims against Trump, according to a settlement document made public Tuesday, in an extraordinary use of executive power that could effectively help shield the president from further examination of his finances and legal conduct.As part of the settlement deal, the U.S.is "forever barred and precluded" from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump organization's current tax examinations.Here's the latest: Cubans wonder what comes next after Castro’s indictment Many spoke strongly against any U.S.intervention in Cuba.“I don’t think we need to find someone to prosecute for Cuba to change,” said Debrezei Barreras, a 43-year-old housewife.“A military intervention could harm Cubans,” she said.“What I do think is advisable is for both countries to reach an agreement so that Cuba can emerge from this crisis.” Rodny Amaguer, a 38-year-old architect, agreed.“There’s no need for anyone from outside to come and fix problems that Cubans themselves, along with their government, should be able to solve,” he said.Amaguer recalled he was a child when the planes the indictment accuses Castro of targeting were shot down.He said the pilots violated Cuban airspace.Rolando Mesa, a 61-year-old state employee, concurred.“If it were the other way around, if Cuba had sent those planes to the United States, and we arrived in Miami, what would they do?They’d shoot us down like doves,” he said.Republicans mull dropping $1 billion security money request for the White House and Trump’s ballroom Republican senators are considering dropping a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump's ballroom after it has failed to win enough party support on Capitol Hill.The White House has pressured Republicans to add the money to a roughly $70 billion bill intended to restore funding to U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.But some Republicans are questioning the security price tag and asking for more details about how the money would be used.John Kennedy said Wednesday that the bill was “back to square one” without the security money because “the votes are not there.” Sen.Thom Tillis said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a “bad idea” and he does not think there is enough backing to pass it, even if it were reduced.Trump says he will speak with Taiwan’s leader over arms sales President Trump today suggested he may speak with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about an arms sales package opposed by Beijing, the second time in a week he raised the possibility of speaking with the island’s leader.“Well, I’ll speak to him.I speak to everybody,” Trump said when asked if he had plans to call Lai.On Friday, when returning from his summit in Beijing, Trump said: “I have to speak to the person that right now, as you know, you know who he is, that’s running Taiwan.” Beijing, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, opposes any official interaction between U.S.and Taiwanese officials, and no sitting U.S.president has spoken with a Taiwanese leader since the two governments severed diplomatic ties in 1979.Trump, as president-elect in 2016, took a congratulatory phone call from the Taiwanese president.Trump calls the indictment of Raúl Castro ‘a very big moment’ “I think this is a very big day, very important day,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac, after flying back from Connecticut.Asked what will happen next for Cuba, he said “We’re gonna see” and that the U.S.is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to a “failing nation.” Trump also said the CIA has a presence in Cuba, and Rubio has been involved in discussions with the island’s leadership.But Trump added of applying more economic pressure to Cuba, “There won’t be escalation.I don’t think there needs to be.Trump says he may release his tax returns Trump has long cited ongoing IRS audits as his reason for not releasing his past tax returns.But that could change now that his legal team has forged a deal with the Justice Department this week that includes permanently dropping tax claims against the president, his family and associates.“I may even release my current returns,” the president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after a trip to Connecticut.As part of the settlement deal meant to resolve Trump's $10 billion l awsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, the U.S.is "forever barred and precluded" from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump organization's current tax examinations, according to a one-page document posted to the Justice Department's website on Tuesday.The settlement also includes the creation of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted.Blanche says he expects Castro to appear in US on charges Asked to what lengths the U.S.would go to bring Castro to face charges in this country, Blanche said the federal government indicts people outside the United States “all the time” and uses a variety of methods to bring them to justice.“There was a warrant issued for his arrest,” Blanche said of Raúl Castro.“So we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.” Blanche went on to say investigations like this one are “never over” when asked whether additional charges would be brought.Castro should take the indictment as a real threat, observers said That’s because former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was indicted on drug-related charges before he and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized by U.S.special forces in the Venezuelan capital in January “He’s gonna have to keep his head pretty low from now on,” said Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst and specialist on the U.S.-Cuba relationship at the National Security Archive.“They’re going to have no choice but to take this threat extremely seriously.” Top Communist Party leader praises Raúl Castro, says Cubans will defend his legacy ‘at any cost’ Roberto Morales Ojeda, a senior Communist Party leader, praised Army Gen.Raúl Castro on Wednesday, saying he “embodies the most genuine essence of the Cuban Revolution thanks to his ability to lead with modesty and personal example.His career has been an uninterrupted lesson in loyalty to Cuba and Fidel.” He also said Raúl Castro has cultivated “an exceptional human sensitivity” and the ability to examine the “revolutionary endeavor,” rectify errors and open spaces for dialogue.“For all these reasons, the Cuban people are absolutely certain that t