Senator Ted Cruz

Mark, great to be with you. Thanks for having me.

Look, I very much hope he's on path one. Frankly, there are voices within the administration that are advocating for both directions. And there's a real difference of opinion within the administration on that front.

Look, I very much hope he's on path one. Frankly, there are voices within the administration that are advocating for both directions. And there's a real difference of opinion within the administration on that front.

Look, I very much hope he's on path one. Frankly, there are voices within the administration that are advocating for both directions. And there's a real difference of opinion within the administration on that front.

I think President Trump has an historic opportunity, an opportunity to use the leverage, and he's got leverage no other president has had, because he has credibly threatened these tariffs. Suddenly our trading partners desperately want to cut deals and want to dramatically reduce the tariffs they charge on US goods and services in exchange for President Trump lifting the tariffs he's announced.

I think President Trump has an historic opportunity, an opportunity to use the leverage, and he's got leverage no other president has had, because he has credibly threatened these tariffs. Suddenly our trading partners desperately want to cut deals and want to dramatically reduce the tariffs they charge on US goods and services in exchange for President Trump lifting the tariffs he's announced.

I think President Trump has an historic opportunity, an opportunity to use the leverage, and he's got leverage no other president has had, because he has credibly threatened these tariffs. Suddenly our trading partners desperately want to cut deals and want to dramatically reduce the tariffs they charge on US goods and services in exchange for President Trump lifting the tariffs he's announced.

If we sit here, Mark, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days from now, and the outcome is that tariffs worldwide have gone down massively, that is an incredible and an historic victory for the United States. It's very much the path that I am urging the president to go down. There's another path, and there's some vocal people in the administration advocating it, that don't see the tariffs as leverage.

If we sit here, Mark, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days from now, and the outcome is that tariffs worldwide have gone down massively, that is an incredible and an historic victory for the United States. It's very much the path that I am urging the president to go down. There's another path, and there's some vocal people in the administration advocating it, that don't see the tariffs as leverage.

If we sit here, Mark, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days from now, and the outcome is that tariffs worldwide have gone down massively, that is an incredible and an historic victory for the United States. It's very much the path that I am urging the president to go down. There's another path, and there's some vocal people in the administration advocating it, that don't see the tariffs as leverage.

They don't see them as means to an end. They see the tariffs as the end, and they want them to be a permanent feature of our economic system, the United States having very, very high tariffs, our trading partners all having very high retaliatory tariffs. I think that would be a terrible outcome. I think that would be terrible for my home state of Texas. I think it would be terrible for the country.

They don't see them as means to an end. They see the tariffs as the end, and they want them to be a permanent feature of our economic system, the United States having very, very high tariffs, our trading partners all having very high retaliatory tariffs. I think that would be a terrible outcome. I think that would be terrible for my home state of Texas. I think it would be terrible for the country.

They don't see them as means to an end. They see the tariffs as the end, and they want them to be a permanent feature of our economic system, the United States having very, very high tariffs, our trading partners all having very high retaliatory tariffs. I think that would be a terrible outcome. I think that would be terrible for my home state of Texas. I think it would be terrible for the country.

And I'll tell you candidly, I don't know which path we're going to go down. I am trying very hard and I'm repeatedly urging the president go down path number one, but he's got voices that are urging path number two as well. And so I think that uncertainty is going to persist for some time.

And I'll tell you candidly, I don't know which path we're going to go down. I am trying very hard and I'm repeatedly urging the president go down path number one, but he's got voices that are urging path number two as well. And so I think that uncertainty is going to persist for some time.

And I'll tell you candidly, I don't know which path we're going to go down. I am trying very hard and I'm repeatedly urging the president go down path number one, but he's got voices that are urging path number two as well. And so I think that uncertainty is going to persist for some time.

Look, I think if we see high tariffs in perpetuity, you see a lot of businesses, their costs go up dramatically. I think you'd see businesses going out of business. I think you'd see prices going up significantly. I think there's a real risk of going into a recession, all of which is a terrible outcome. I don't want to see that happen. But I want to underscore, you know, it's interesting.

Look, I think if we see high tariffs in perpetuity, you see a lot of businesses, their costs go up dramatically. I think you'd see businesses going out of business. I think you'd see prices going up significantly. I think there's a real risk of going into a recession, all of which is a terrible outcome. I don't want to see that happen. But I want to underscore, you know, it's interesting.

Look, I think if we see high tariffs in perpetuity, you see a lot of businesses, their costs go up dramatically. I think you'd see businesses going out of business. I think you'd see prices going up significantly. I think there's a real risk of going into a recession, all of which is a terrible outcome. I don't want to see that happen. But I want to underscore, you know, it's interesting.

There's been a fair amount of press coverage saying, oh, Cruz is critical of the Trump tariffs. Let me be very clear. I think Trump has an opportunity to do something that no other president in our lifetimes has done, which is to have real leverage to finally get our trading partners to lower the barriers they have to U.S. goods and services.