Senator Ted Cruz was secretly recorded criticizing President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance during private meetings with Republican donors, Axios reported Sunday. The recordings were made in early and mid 2025 and run nearly ten minutes in total.
Cruz used the talks to set himself apart from a wing of the party that favors big tariffs and a more isolationist foreign policy. Axios said the tapes show him casting Vance as a pawn of Tucker Carlson and pitching himself as a βtraditional free trade, pro interventionist Republican.β
He warned donors that Trumpβs tariffs could do serious harm to the economy and to Republican fortunes in the midterm elections. Cruz told the group, βMr. President, if we get to November of [2026] and people’s 401(k)s are down 30% and prices are up 10β20% at the supermarket, we’re going to go into Election Day, face a bloodbath.β
Cruz painted a bleak picture of the partyβs prospects if the economy suffered. He added, βYou’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.β
According to the recordings, Cruz and a few other senators asked Trump to abandon the tariffs in a phone call that ran past midnight. Cruz described the call this way: it βdid not go wellβ and Trump was βyellingβ and βcursing.β
Cruz also shared a blunt assessment of Trumpβs mood that night. βTrump was in a bad mood,β he told donors. βI’ve been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them.β
The exchange did not stay one sided. Cruz said Trump replied, βF**k you, Ted.β
On foreign policy, Cruz pointed a finger at Vance and Carlson. He told donors, βTucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protΓ©gΓ©, and they are one and the same.β
Cruz accused the pair of pushing out officials who favored stronger action against Iran. He said Mike Waltz was removed because he βsupported being vigorous against Iran and bombing Iran β and Tucker and JD took Mike out.β
The senator also criticized an intelligence appointee, calling him βa guy who viciously hates Israel.β Axios reported that Cruz said this about Daniel Davis, whom he said was moved quickly into and then out of a top post.
Cruz mixed blunt talk with a bit of dark humor about White House jargon. When a donor mentioned βLiberation Day,β Cruz joked, βI’ve told my team if anyone uses those words, they will be terminated on the spot. That is not language we use.β
A Cruz spokesperson pushed back in a written statement to Axios, calling the recordings attempts to sow division and saying the senator remains βthe president’s greatest ally in the Senate and battles every day in the trenches to advance his agenda.β
Tucker Carlson denied having a role in personnel moves that Cruz described, telling Axios he βdidn’t have anything to doβ with the ousting of Waltz or the hiring of Davis.
The White House and spokespeople for Vance did not respond to requests for comment, Axios said. The recordings were provided to the outlet by a Republican source.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
