Internal divisions within the US Republican leadership have come into sharp focus after an audio recording surfaced of Senator Ted Cruz criticizing Vice President JD Vance, White House adviser Peter Navarro, and at times even President Donald Trump for blocking a proposed India–US trade deal. The remarks, reported by Axios, were made during private conversations with donors in early and mid-2025.
According to the report, the recordings—nearly 10 minutes in total—were shared by a Republican source and capture Cruz expressing frustration over the Trump administration’s tariff-driven trade policy. The Texas senator reportedly portrayed himself as a traditional free-trade Republican and warned that aggressive tariffs could damage the US economy and have serious political consequences.
Cruz told donors that he and several other senators held a late-night call with President Trump after tariffs were announced in April 2025, urging him to reconsider the policy. The conversation, Cruz said, deteriorated quickly, with the president allegedly yelling and using profanity. Cruz warned that falling retirement savings and rising consumer prices could lead to electoral losses and repeated impeachment efforts, prompting a sharp rebuke from Trump.
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The senator also mocked the administration’s branding of the tariff rollout as “Liberation Day,” saying he had instructed his team never to use the phrase. He reportedly told donors that such language was unacceptable and disconnected from economic realities.
On the stalled India–US trade agreement, Cruz said he had repeatedly battled the White House to move negotiations forward. When asked who was resisting the deal, he named Navarro, Vance, and “sometimes” Trump himself, suggesting internal resistance was preventing progress on closer economic ties with India.
In the recordings, Cruz also took aim at Vice President Vance, portraying him as heavily influenced by conservative commentator Tucker Carlson. Cruz accused Carlson of shaping Vance’s foreign policy views and described the two as closely aligned, highlighting growing ideological rifts within the Republican Party as it looks ahead to future leadership battles.
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