India-US trade deal stalled by White House infighting, claims US Senator in viral audio

Washington: An Axios report has revealed a 10-minute audio recording from early to mid-2025 detailing significant internal friction within the Trump administration. In the leaked audio, Senator Ted Cruz critiques the trade and foreign policy stances of Vice President JD Vance and adviser Peter Navarro, while also recounting a tense confrontation with President Trump.

Addressing private donors, the Texas Republican positioned himself as a traditional free-trade advocate against the isolationist tendencies of the Vice President. Cruz specifically targeted the administration’s tariff strategy implemented in April 2025. He warned that these policies could trigger an economic downturn and subsequent political fallout. Cruz described a midnight phone call where he and other senators urged the President to retract the tariffs. According to Cruz, the President reacted with hostility. “Trump was in a bad mood. I have been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them,” Cruz said. The Senator cautioned that if retirement accounts dropped 30 percent and food costs rose 10 to 20 percent by November 2026, the party would face an electoral disaster. Cruz told the President, “You are going to lose the House, you are going to lose the Senate, you are going to spend the next two years being impeached every single week.”

Trump reportedly responded, “F*** you, Ted.”

Cruz also expressed frustration over stalled trade negotiations with India. He identified Navarro, Vance, and occasionally Trump as the primary obstacles to a deal. Furthermore, he mocked the administration’s “Liberation Day” branding for the tariff launch, stating any staffer of his using the term would be “terminated on the spot.”

Regarding foreign policy, Cruz tied Vance’s views to Tucker Carlson, whom he accused of promoting anti-interventionist sentiments. Cruz told donors, “Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protege, and they are one and the same.”