U.S. Senator Ted Cruz appears at the 2021 Student Action Summit. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore

Diehard MAGA adherent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz appears to have broken off from President Donald Trump — at least when it comes to tariffs.

The Texas Republican told listeners to the Saturday edition of his Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast that Trump is risking the GOP’s political dominance if he continues hanging onto the steep tariffs that sent markets into free fall and threaten to jack up consumer prices.

“If he leaves them in place and we just have constant tariffs, that is a massive tax increase on the American people,” Cruz said. “I worry there are voices within the administration that want to see these tariffs continue forever and ever and ever.”

Cruz’s comments came after U.S. market indexes tanked Thursday and Friday, wiping out a combined $6.6 trillion in value from the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500. Monday wasn’t much better as the Dow plunged by 300 points and Trump threatened further tariffs on China.

On the podcast, Cruz also fretted about Trump risking a recession, which crater Republican prospects in the midterms. Following Trump’s “Liberation Day” press conference last Wednesday, J.P. Morgan released a memo predicting a 60% chance that the U.S. will enter a recession by year’s end.

“If we go into a recession, particularly a bad recession, 2026 in all likelihood, politically would be a bloodbath,” Cruz warned. “If we’re in the middle of a recession and people are hurting badly, they punish the party in power.”

However, in a Monday episode of his podcast, Cruz appeared to moderate his message, saying that if Trump successfully uses tariffs as a negotiation tactic to close trade deficits with other countries, it could present a “massive victory for the American people.”

“There are angels and demons sitting on President Trump’s shoulders. Who does he listen to? I hope he listens to the angels,” Cruz said.

The critical comments about Trump are highly unusual since Cruz has been among the president’s most slavish supporters. Indeed, the senator has even downplayed insults Trump hurled at his wife, Heidi, during the 2016 Republican presidential campaign.

Apparently, disparaging Cruz’s beloved is just fine, but damaging the economy to the point it jeopardizes his reelection prospects is strictly off limits.

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This article appears in Apr 2-15, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...