Internal divisions within the Donald Trump administration came to fore after an audio recording surfaced in which US Senator Ted Cruz criticised Vice President JD Vance, White House trade adviser Peter
Navarro and, at times, even President Trump for stalling a proposed trade agreement with India.
According to an Axios report, the nearly 10-minute recording captures the Texas Republican speaking candidly to private donors during meetings held in early and mid-2025.
In the audio, Cruz sharply attacks the administration’s tariff-centric trade policy and says resistance from senior officials repeatedly obstructed progress on an India-US deal.
Cruz, who has long positioned himself as a pro-free-trade Republican, told donors he had “battled” the White House to move the agreement forward.
When asked who within the administration was blocking such efforts, he named Navarro, Vance and “sometimes” the President himself.
Rift Over Tariffs
In the recording, Cruz mocked Trump’s tariff rollout and warned that sweeping import duties could seriously damage the US economy and carry severe political consequences.
He recalled a late-night call with Trump and a handful of Republican senators shortly after the tariffs were announced in April 2025, during which they urged the President to reconsider the policy.
Cruz said the conversation quickly turned tense, describing Trump as angry and confrontational. “Trump was in a bad mood,” he told donors, adding that the President “yelled” and used profanity during the exchange.
Cruz said he warned Trump that sustained economic fallout could trigger electoral losses in the 2026 midterms, citing potential declines in retirement savings and rising grocery prices. According to Cruz, Trump dismissed the warning with an expletive-laden response.
The senator also ridiculed Trump’s branding of the tariff rollout as “Liberation Day,” joking that he had instructed his staff never to use the term.
Criticism Of JD Vance
Cruz’s remarks went beyond trade policy, with the senator repeatedly targeting Vice President JD Vance.
In the recording, Cruz portrayed Vance as closely aligned with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, whom Cruz has publicly accused of promoting antisemitic views and an isolationist foreign policy.
“Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same,” Cruz said, accusing Vance of advancing Carlson’s anti-interventionist agenda.
While Cruz has waged a sustained online campaign against Carlson in recent months, he has largely avoided publicly tying those criticisms to Vance, who is known to have a personal relationship with the podcaster.
