In his last year as the President of the United States, Barack Obama is considering a trip to Cuba if its government bolsters its human rights record and opens its doors for more American business.

As reported by The Los Angeles Times, the president would make the decision in the next couple of months, as his national security team is still evaluating the tentative warming of relations since the opening of a U.S. embassy in Havana last year.

According to Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, "The key test is whether the president's going to Cuba would help advance those priorities," and in particular whether the visit would "improve the lives of the Cuban people."

Bloomberg noted that the U.S. has taken steps to facilitate travel and commerce with the country for the first time in decades, though Rhodes said that "there is more we could do."

He added that, "On the Cuban side, there are steps they could take over the course of the year that could allow them to absorb greater economic activity," while also saying that nobody is expecting Cuba in the next couple of years to become a multi-party democracy.

Cuba and the United States started to re-establish its ties in late 2014, where Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met at the Summit of the Americas in Panama in April 2015 -- the first meeting between the U.S. and Cuban heads of state since 1961.

In a similar report by Reuters, a trip by a U.S. president would be historic and the government is willing to use that leverage to press Cuba to make reforms. President Obama made it clear that he is eager to visit the country before he leaves office next year.

This controversial visit arose in a preview of the president's foreign policy plans for his final year in the office, as his aides prepare for his return to Washington after two weeks of vacation with his family in his childhood home state of Hawaii.

And by far, the overarching foreign policy of the new year will be the fight against terrorists, with the Islamic State in particular. Moreover, the Obama administration will be looking to disrupt the terrorist group's plans, ease the Syrian conflict and push the group away from its safe havens in that region.

Obama's aides also said that the president also plans to seek new authorization for the use of military force. As noted, the fight against terrorism will be the main focus with NATO leaders at an upcoming summit in Poland.