Ted Cruz Caught Slamming Trump and JD Vance in 10 Minutes of Secret Recordings: Report

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump for years, endorsing him soon after losing to him in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.

But in new secret recordings obtained by Axios, the Texas Republican is heard voicing sharp concerns about parts of the administration’s agenda in private.

The audio—captured during two meetings with Republican donors last year—includes nearly 10 minutes in which Cruz ridicules Trump’s tariff strategy, describes Vice President JD Vance as a “protégé” of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, and blames outside forces for Trump’s decision to elevate Army veteran Daniel Davis to a senior intelligence role. Cruz alleges in the recordings that Davis “viciously hates Israel.”

In one segment, Cruz mocks the president’s “Liberation Day” event in April 2025, when Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs across nearly all U.S. imports.

“I’ve told my team if anyone uses those words, they will be terminated on the spot. That is not language we use,” Cruz says of the “Liberation Day” label.

Cruz also describes a post-announcement phone call with Trump involving multiple senators, during which they warned the president the tariffs could destabilize the economy and potentially endanger his presidency.

“Trump was in a bad mood,” Cruz tells donors in the recording, adding that Trump was “yelling” and “cursing.”

“I’ve been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them,” he adds.

In another portion, Cruz recalls warning Trump that an economic slide could trigger a “bloodbath” for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

“[I said] 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 says.

According to Cruz, Trump fired back: “F— you, Ted.”

Axios notes Cruz could eventually find himself facing Vance in a 2028 Republican primary. In the recordings, Cruz appears to take direct aim at the vice president’s political roots and relationship with Carlson.

“Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same,” Cruz says in one of the audio clips, according to Axios.

Cruz’s hostility toward Carlson has been public over the past year. He has accused the former Fox News host of antisemitism after Carlson interviewed White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, whom Cruz called a “little goose-stepping Nazi.”

Cruz and Carlson also clashed in a separate heated interview months earlier, when Carlson attacked Cruz for suggesting Carlson held antisemitic views based on his positions regarding Israel.

Cruz has criticized Carlson’s foreign policy posture, arguing it deprioritizes Israel in U.S. strategy in favor of closer alignment with Gulf states.

In a statement to Axios in November 2025, Cruz said, “We have a responsibility to speak out even when it’s uncomfortable. When voices in our own movement push dangerous and misguided ideas, we can’t look the other way. I won’t hesitate to call out those who peddle destructive, vile rhetoric and threaten our principles and our future. Silence in the face of recklessness is not an option.”

Still, Axios reports Cruz has avoided publicly tying Vance’s politics to Carlson’s as aggressively as he allegedly did in the private donor meetings.

Elsewhere in the recordings, Cruz accuses Vance and Carlson of pushing their agendas through personnel decisions inside the administration, according to Axios.

He claims they pressured Trump to fire former national security adviser Mike Waltz because Waltz “supported being vigorous against Iran and bombing Iran — and Tucker and JD took Mike out.”

Cruz also alleges the two were involved in elevating Daniel Davis to a senior national intelligence role, despite Cruz’s claim that Davis “viciously hates Israel.” National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard later withdrew Davis’ nomination after backlash from fellow Republicans.

Carlson told Axios he “didn’t have anything to do” with Waltz’s removal or Davis’ hiring.

In a statement about the recordings, a spokesperson for Cruz said the senator is “the president’s greatest ally in the Senate and battles every day in the trenches to advance his agenda.”

“Those battles include fights over staffers who try to enter the administration despite disagreeing with the president and seeking to undermine his foreign policy,” the spokesperson said. “Sen. Cruz is proud of those fights, his accomplishments, and his close relationship with the president. These attempts at sowing division are pathetic and getting boring.”

Despite the leaked audio, Cruz is scheduled to appear with Trump at a summit on Wednesday, Jan. 28, marking the launch of “Trump Accounts,” a program designed to provide seed money to newborn babies in the United States.

The outlet also contacted the White House, the vice president’s office and Davis for comment on Axios’ reporting.