“There’s nothing specific where we’re trying to target some sort of visit on my part,” he said at the time.

It’s unlikely that Obama would visit Cuba until diplomatic ties had been reestablished and embassies were reopened. Obama would have to inform Congress at least 15 days before opening an embassy in Cuba, but a State Department official suggested that could be done even before a final embassy agreement is reached.

The ultimate “normalization” of relations — ending the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba — requires congressional action and could still be years away. Asked Thursday whether he favored lifting the embargo, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said he had met this week with “members who were interested in stopping this progression toward normal relations with Cuba, until such time as the [Cubans] begin to make serious changes in terms of the way they run their country.” The administration, Boehner said, “keeps giving and giving and giving. But the Castro brothers . . . are doing nothing.”