Washington DC - A recent report claims Republican Congressman Ted Cruz was recorded sharing some not-so-MAGA opinions about President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance behind closed doors.
In recordings obtained by Axios, which were taken during two private meetings with campaign donors, Cruz is reportedly heard trashing Trump's controversial tariff agenda and the president's second in command.
In the first, which was recorded sometime in early 2025, Cruz claimed he and a few other senators called Trump to try and talk him out of imposing massive tariffs on a number of US trade partners.
Cruz said he told Trump, "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."
"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.
Cruzs said Trump – who was "yelling" and "cursing" over being opposed – responded, "F**k you, Ted."
The outlet claims Cruz brought up Vance a number of times, repeatedly telling donors that the vice president had concerning ties to far-right podcaster Tucker Carlson, whom the Texas senator has openly accused of pushing antisemitism.
"Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker's protégé, and they are one and the same," Cruz reportedly stated.
Is Ted Cruz gearing up for 2028 presidential run?
For years, Cruz has positioned himself as a staunch ally to the president, so much so that in leaked audio from 2021, he discussed helping Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The recording reveals him scheming to use his position to get his colleagues to re-certify the vote.
Axios noted that in the recent recordings, Cruz appeared intent on pitching himself as a possible presidential candidate in the 2028 race, in which Vance is considered a top contender for the Republican ticket.
Cruz previously ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential race, during which Trump memorably pushed the baseless claim that Cruz's father had ties to the assassin who killed former President John F. Kennedy.