President Trump said Sen. Ted Cruz is “very talented” and could mount a future White House campaign, weighing in for the first time on the Texas Republican’s mounting 2028 speculation.
Asked during an Oval Office press conference Thursday about Mr. Cruz teasing a presidential run, Mr. Trump was complimentary but noncommittal.
“I would say that he’s very talented. He’s a very good friend of mine. I think he might do that. He’s a talented guy,” Mr. Trump said, according to Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese, who posed the question.
Mr. Trump’s remarks came days after Mr. Cruz, who finished second to Mr. Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential nomination contest, stopped short of anointing Vice President J.D. Vance as the party’s heir apparent. Asked during an MS NOW interview whether Republicans had coalesced around Mr. Vance for 2028, Mr. Cruz replied, “Oh, no,” adding that the party still needed “a full discussion about who we are and what we believe.”
A day later, Mr. Cruz went further, telling Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on his podcast that “it’s no secret that I want to be president,” while stopping short of committing to another run. “This is a bug that history has proved is rarely ended,” he said. “It is a permanent and often fatal bug.”
Mr. Trump has spent months publicly and privately weighing whether Mr. Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio should carry the MAGA torch after he leaves office. A Washington Post report, cited by the Daily Caller, found that Mr. Trump told donors during a private Oval Office meeting, “At the end of the day, we need to elect J.D.” — a comment that fueled speculation he was leaning toward Mr. Vance.
Mr. Trump disputed that characterization when the Daily Caller pressed him on it.
“No … I think he’s great, but we’re way too early to even be thinking about that,” he said at the time, acknowledging he had heard about the Post’s reporting.
The Post also reported that after the donor meeting, Mr. Trump polled guests aboard Marine One on whether Mr. Vance or Mr. Rubio should run. “Anyone assuming it’s a lock is just getting way ahead of themselves, or just doesn’t know the president very well,” one official told the Post.
A source close to the administration told the Daily Caller that, much as with Mr. Trump’s vice presidential selection process, no one will know his 2028 preference “until he officially says something,” adding that Mr. Trump nonetheless “consistently praises” Mr. Vance behind the scenes.
Mr. Cruz’s overtures add another prominent name to a potential field in which Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio have drawn much of the early attention. Neither Mr. Cruz, Mr. Vance nor Mr. Rubio has formally declared a candidacy, and the 2028 primary is not expected to begin in earnest until after this fall’s midterm elections.
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