Secret Recordings Show Cruz Attacking Trump Tariffs
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, boards a train in the Senate subway during a vote at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Sure—here’s a clean, neutral rewrite that treats President Trump as the current president and keeps the substance intact without changing the facts or tone.
Sen. Ted Cruz has privately warned donors on at least two occasions that President Trump’s trade agenda could damage the economy and hurt Republicans electorally, even as he publicly presents himself as one of the president’s strongest allies in the Senate, according to recordings obtained by Axios from a GOP source.
The Texas Republican, widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, criticized President Trump’s new tariffs and took aim at Vice President JD Vance during two donor meetings last year, one early in the year and another several months later. In the recordings, Cruz cast himself as a traditional free-trade conservative and portrayed Vance as aligned with a more isolationist worldview associated with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson. “Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same,” Cruz said in one recording.
Cruz also described a late-night phone call with President Trump following the rollout of the tariffs in April 2025, saying he and several GOP senators urged the president to reconsider. According to Cruz, the conversation became heated, with Trump reacting angrily and using profanity. Cruz told donors he warned the president that if tariffs led to falling 401(k) balances and higher prices, Republicans could face a major defeat in the 2026 midterms and that Trump would face constant impeachment efforts if Democrats regained control of Congress. Cruz said Trump responded bluntly, telling him to “F— you.” Cruz also mocked the administration’s branding of the tariff rollout as “Liberation Day,” joking that he told staff members they would be fired if they used the phrase.
In the recordings, Cruz further claimed that Vance and Carlson played a role in the removal of then–national security adviser Mike Waltz over his support for airstrikes on Iran, and that they were involved in the appointment of Daniel Davis—whom Cruz described as strongly anti-Israel—to a senior intelligence position. Vance has publicly supported airstrikes on Iran, while Carlson told Axios he had no involvement in either Waltz’s departure or Davis’ appointment.
A spokesperson for Cruz responded by calling the senator “the president’s greatest ally in the Senate,” saying he “battles every day” to advance President Trump’s agenda and dismissing the reporting as an effort to “sow division.”
Texas Monthly characterized the recordings as “a glimpse of things to come in 2028,” predicting an increasingly bitter GOP primary fight among potential presidential contenders, including Cruz, Vance, and possibly Carlson.
The report comes as Cruz publicly broke with the Trump administration this week over its response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis, according to CBS News. On his podcast, Cruz urged a more restrained approach, saying that escalating rhetoric undermines credibility. “I would encourage the administration to be more measured, to recognize the tragedy and to say we don’t want anyone’s life to be lost,” Cruz said, adding that political leaders inflaming the situation should stop. He was among several Republicans who criticized the administration’s response to the shooting.
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