But just what lane Cruz could occupy in a likely crowded field is uncertain, Republican operators say.

Cruz’s comments come as many Republicans believe the primary belongs to Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both of whom President Donald Trump has praised in public but stopped short of endorsing.

“Why would Donald Trump not try to pick his successor?” said one Republican who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “Because the whole point here is to keep the America First agenda going as well as possibly his legacy.”

As the president’s second-in-command, any future Vance presidential campaign will be automatically linked to Trump’s record, despite the president’s reluctance to issue an endorsement.

If Trump were to endorse Vance, Cruz would have a difficult time trying to portray himself as the MAGA-aligned candidate.

But the president’s approval numbers are sinking, and grocery and gas prices have risen during the Trump administration, suggesting Vance’s future isn’t quite sealed, some Republicans claimed.

“Ted Cruz, I think, is right in that Vance hasn’t sewn up the nomination,” said Trevor Francis, a former Republican National Committee communications director. “I think that there’s going to be a battle for the nomination. I think Ted Cruz is going to have to figure out which path, but I would argue that his soft differentiation strategy would probably be the best.”

Cruz is largely in line with the administration but has not been afraid to break with Trump on a handful of key issues, which could help him determine the direction of a possible presidential campaign.

The Texas senator was one of the most high-profile Republican lawmakers to warn Trump that the “Liberation Day” tariffs could complicate the party’s efforts to retain control of the House and Senate in the November midterm elections.

“If we’re in the middle of a recession and people are hurting badly, they punish the party in power,” Cruz said during his Verdict podcast in April 2025.

The tariffs were eventually overturned by a Supreme Court ruling, but that hasn’t stopped Trump from imposing tariffs on U.S. trade partners, including Canada. The renewed trade with Canada could affect key Senate races and control of the upper chamber in Michigan, Ohio, and Maine.

In a major split with the administration, Cruz publicly clashed with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr last year over retaliation against media outlets that criticized the Trump administration and its allies. Carr had threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcast license after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on the assassination of Charlie Kirk angered conservatives.

Cruz compared Carr’s actions to “unbelievably dangerous” and “right out of ‘Goodfellas.” 

During a December Senate Commerce Committee hearing last year, Cruz, who chairs the committee, told Carr, “Democrat or Republican, we cannot have the government arbitrating truth or opinion.” 

Cruz also threatened to strip Carr of the powers he used to attack media outlets’ broadcast licenses.

He also carved out a lane for himself in his forceful rebukes of antisemitic voices in the GOP, including feuding with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Conservatives have begun to split over U.S. support for Israel as the Iran war has dragged on beyond the timeline the Trump administration originally stated. Carlson’s podcast interview with antisemite Nick Fuentes last year roiled the GOP, and Vance has tried to walk a fine line among the two factions of the GOP.

“Cruz has identified Tucker Carlson as an unbelievably negative actor in our political system and in the ‘conservative’ movement,” said Matt Mackowiak, a Texas-based Republican strategist. “The vice president has not expressed the same level of concern about associating with Tucker Carlson as Cruz has … and I’m not quite sure why, because at this point Trump is going after Carlson.”

Other Republican strategists have already claimed in interviews with the Washington Examiner that the “Vice President has to s*** or get off the pot on this issue. He has to decide if he wants to stand against antisemitism and against racism.”

The Front Line, a nonprofit organization launched by allies of Cruz last month, will counter right-wing antisemitism within the GOP. These efforts could help Cruz win over financial support from billionaire Israeli Republican donor Miriam Adelson, who owns the Dallas Mavericks and uses her immense wealth to combat global antisemitism.

Vance, however, does have his role as RNC finance chairman, which enables him to connect with donors who could fund a presidential campaign down the road. The Washington Post reported that Trump was privately telling donors that he wants Vance to get the 2028 nomination. “At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump allegedly said.

He continues to lead a hypothetical field. According to a New York Times poll composite of the 2028 GOP primary, Vance polls at 32%, Rubio at 12%, and Cruz at 2%.

In 2016, Cruz was the runner-up in the presidential primary behind Trump, suggesting he does have the stamina to appeal to the GOP base against a formidable foe. It also cost him key support from Trump aides such as Alex Bruesewitz, a top social media adviser for Trump, who took issue with Cruz’s not-so-subtle recent moves.

Bruesewitz claimed on social media that “Ted Cruz will never be president.”

“Also it would be better if Senator Cruz focused on his actual job and helping Republicans win the midterms, rather than boosting his own brand and ego by constantly talking about 2028 more than two years out,” he said.

TED CRUZ SUGGESTS GOP REALIGNMENT COMING AFTER TRUMP LEAVES OFFICE

Republican strategist Ford O’Connell similarly suggested Cruz’s White House chances are slim, considering the momentum behind Vance and Rubio.

“People like Ted Cruz, but that’s just not going to happen unless somehow Trump decides that the ticket of Vance and Rubio, or Rubio and Vance, is not going to be his choice,” O’Connell said. “You’re going to see other people trying to float trial balloons out there in the way that I believe that Ted Cruz is floating a trial balloon … but it’s just going to be dominated by Trump.”