Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said President Donald Trump listens to his foreign policy advice the “vast majority of the time” while drawing sharp distinctions between himself and Vice President JD Vance during a discussion about the 2028 presidential race.
Cruz appeared Wednesday on “The PBD Podcast,” where host Patrick Bet-David repeatedly pressed him about a potential White House campaign. Bet-David asked Cruz to explain the policy differences between himself and two other possible 2028 Republican candidates, Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Cruz described Vance as more “isolationist” on foreign policy and argued that the vice president would likely pursue a different approach from Trump if he became president.
The Texas Republican then criticized a now-abandoned memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran. The proposed framework controversially included $300 billion in reconstruction funding, though the money would have come from private investment rather than taxpayers.
“That was a terrible deal,” Cruz said.
Cruz placed responsibility for negotiating the agreement on Vance and called the proposal “staggeringly foolish.”
The senator said the MOU represented a “serious policy mistake” and claimed it would have allowed Iranian terrorists to use the reconstruction money to kill Americans.
“The MOU thankfully collapsed,” Cruz said. “Had the MOU gone into effect, Americans would have died. That money would have been used by Iranian terrorists to murder Americans, so I’m glad we’re not sending them the money.”
Cruz also emphasized his regular communication with Trump, saying he speaks with the president at least once a week and occasionally talks to him every day.
“I spend a lot of time talking to President Trump,” Cruz said. “I talk to President Trump every week, sometimes every day, and on foreign policy I will say he has listened to me the vast majority of the time. Not all the time, but a great deal of [the] time.”
Cruz’s claim highlighted his current relationship with Trump despite the bitter history between the two Republicans. Their relationship has been tense at times, dating back to the 2016 Republican presidential primary, when Trump repeatedly directed personal insults at Cruz as they competed for the party’s nomination.
The senator’s comments about Vance came as speculation continues over who could seek the Republican nomination in 2028. Cruz has previously rejected claims that the Republican Party is already united behind Vance as its next presidential candidate.
Trump was asked last week about the possibility of Cruz launching another presidential campaign. The president praised his former primary rival as a friend and predicted that Cruz could perform well.
“I would say that he’s very talented,” Trump said. “He’s a very good friend of mine. I think he might do good, yeah. He’s a talented guy.”
Cruz did not announce a 2028 campaign during the podcast appearance. However, he portrayed himself as a trusted foreign policy voice in Trump’s orbit while criticizing Vance’s approach and his reported role in the abandoned Iran agreement.
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