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Senator Ted Cruz privately blasted President Donald Trump’s tariff policy in closed-door donor meetings, warning it could tank the economy, cost Republicans Congress in 2026, and trigger repeated impeachment attempts.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sharply criticized President Trump’s tariff policy and derided Vice President JD Vance during private donor meetings in 2025, according to a report.
Axios said audio recordings obtained by it were made during two closed-door meetings with Republican donors in early and mid-2025 and were provided to Axios by a Republican source.
Cruz’s remarks represent some of the harshest private criticisms of Trump and Vance by a fellow Republican since they took office a year ago.
The comments offer insight into how Cruz may be positioning himself as a free-trade, pro-interventionist Republican ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run.
Tariffs and impeachment warning
According to Axios, Cruz warned donors that Trump’s tariffs could severely damage the economy and lead to impeachment if Republicans suffer major losses in the 2026 midterms.
Cruz recounted a late-night call with Trump shortly after the tariffs were announced in early April 2025. He said several senators urged Trump to reconsider.
“That call did not go well,” Cruz said in the recording obtained by Axios, describing Trump as “yelling” and “cursing.”
“Trump was in a bad mood,” Cruz added. “I’ve been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them.”
Cruz said he warned Trump that economic fallout would devastate Republicans politically.
“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, according to Axios.
“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.”
Cruz said Trump responded: “F**k you, Ted.”
Attacks on Vance and Carlson
Cruz repeatedly criticized Vice President Vance in the recordings, portraying him as politically aligned with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, according to Axios.
“Tucker created JD,” Cruz said. “JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same.”
Cruz has publicly feuded with Carlson over foreign policy but has generally avoided linking Carlson and Vance in public. The recordings show Cruz making that connection explicitly in private, Axios noted.
Iran and internal power struggles
Cruz alleged that Vance and Carlson were involved in the removal of former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who supported military action against Iran, according to the recordings obtained by Axios.
“Waltz supported being vigorous against Iran and bombing Iran — and Tucker and JD took Mike out,” Cruz said.
Vance has publicly said he supported US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last June.
Cruz also said Vance and Carlson backed the appointment of Army veteran Daniel Davis — a critic of U.S. support for Israel — to a senior intelligence role.
Tucker Carlson reportedly told Axios that he “didn’t have anything to do” with the removal of Waltz or the hiring of Davis.
English (US) ·