Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was reportedly caught criticizing President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance to donors in secret recordings.
In comments made to donors at two separate meetings last year, Cruz had choice words for Trump and Vance, markedly different than the praise he usually heaps on them publicly. Two secret recordings of his comments were provided to Axios, amounting to roughly 10 minutes of conversation in total. His harsh comments primarily related to Trump’s tariff policy and Vance’s foreign policy stances and relationship to Tucker Carlson.
Cruz painted Vance as a pawn of Carlson, Axios reported, amid the Texas Republican’s prolonged public scuffle with the journalist and podcast host.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MESSAGING ON ICE AT ODDS WITH PUBLIC SUPPORT
“Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same,” Cruz reportedly said.
Cruz has accused Carlson of peddling antisemitism, celebrating Nazi Germany, and supporting all the U.S.’s adversaries.
Regarding Trump, Cruz mocked Trump’s usage of the term “Liberation Day” about tariffs, saying, “I’ve told my team if anyone uses those words, they will be terminated on the spot. That is not language we use.”
He relayed a private argument the two had over Trump’s tariff policies, with Cruz claiming it would devastate the economy.
“Mr. President, if we get to November of [2026] and people’s 401(k)s are down 30% and prices are up 10–20% at the supermarket, we’re going to go into Election Day, face a bloodbath,” Cruz said.
“You’re going to lose the House, you’re going to lose the Senate, you’re going to spend the next two years being impeached every single week,” he added.
By Cruz’s account, Trump responded, “F*** you, Ted.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Cruz for comment.
CRUZ CITES AMERICA’S ‘HISTORY OF ACQUIRING NEW LANDS’ IN DEFENDING TRUMP’S GREENLAND PUSH
After an infamously personal and ugly primary against Trump in 2016, Cruz repositioned himself as one of the president’s biggest allies in the Senate. Any criticism of Trump after 2016 has been exceedingly rare, but the alleged recording shows his support isn’t as unconditional as publicly shown.
Analysts believe Cruz is positioning himself for a 2028 White House run, 12 years after his previously unsuccessful attempt. His comments show that he may be looking to portray himself as a classical free-trade, interventionist Republican of the pre-Trump era. One of the aspects of his relationship with Trump that Cruz told donors about was his “battling” with the administration to push a free trade agreement with India.