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In private conversations, US Senator Cruz sharply criticizes Trump's tariff policy. Secret conversations cause a political earthquake...
Secret conversations have put Republican Senator Ted Cruz in a difficult position. According to an investigation by Axios, Cruz harshly criticized President Donald Trump and his economic policies in private donor meetings in 2025. The recordings, which were leaked by a Republican source, last several minutes.
Cruz is publicly considered a close ally of Trump in the Senate. This makes the recordings, which have also been obtained by other US media outlets, even more politically significant. They offer a rare glimpse into the internal tensions within the Republican leadership.
In the recordings, Cruz warns of the consequences of tariff policies for Republicans. The reduction in pension savings and rising prices could seriously damage the party in the 2026 midterm elections. Cruz literally speaks of an imminent "bleeding" at the ballot box.
According to his account, he raised this concern directly with Trump. However, a late-night phone call with the president and other senators escalated, with Trump yelling and cursing.
Domestically, Cruz distanced himself particularly strongly from the symbolism of the customs announcements. According to Axios records, he strictly prohibited the use of the term "Liberation Day" within his inner circle.
Employees who used the phrase would be immediately fired, Cruz declared.
At the same time, he described resistance within the administration to new trade deals. That resistance came from, among others, Vice President JD Vance and economic adviser Peter Navarro. Even Trump himself temporarily blocked such initiatives, Cruz said.
Cruz attacks Vance and Tucker Carlson face to face
A focal point of the recordings is Cruz's scathing attack on Vance. The vice president is politically closely aligned with conservative figure Tucker Carlson, Cruz said.
"Tucker created JD," the senator declared verbatim.
Cruz also held Carlson and Vance accountable for personnel decisions on security and foreign policy. The two are alleged to have pushed for the firing of former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz because he had taken a tough stance on Iran. Cruz also sees their influence in the short-lived appointment of analyst Daniel Davis.
Ted Cruz was born in 1970 in Calgary, Canada, to Cuban-American roots. He is the son of a Cuban immigrant but an American citizen by birth through his mother. He studied law at Princeton and Harvard and is a prominent constitutional lawyer.
Cruz served as Attorney General of Texas (2003–2008), as well as the state's Chief Justice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
He entered the Senate in the 2012 elections, and belongs to the hard-line conservative line. In 2016, he was the Republican candidate in the primary elections where he ran against Trump; later he became a political ally. He is one of the Republican senators with the greatest influence in the Senate.
A Cruz spokesman stated that the senator remains "the president's biggest ally in the Senate," Axios reports.
The Independent adds that the now-public statements were part of internal disputes and were taken out of context. Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson denied any interference in personnel decisions.
On social media, critics used the conversations to launch vicious attacks on Cruz, accusing him of publicly declaring his loyalty while internally advocating the opposite, Raw Story notes.
Observers also see the talks as a sign of growing tensions within the party in the run-up to the 2028 presidential election.
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