Republican strategist Dick Morris said Sen. Ted Cruz may enter the 2028 presidential race, which would turn early competition for the party’s nomination into a three-way contest with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In a recent interview, Morris stated that Cruz has signaled his intentions by criticizing Trump’s oil agreement with Venezuela. “He said he’d like to be president. He certainly ran strong in 2016,” Morris remarked.
Morris pointed to the Texas senator’s recent criticism of the Trump administration’s deal with Venezuela as a potential jab at Marco Rubio, who negotiated the agreement. “He attacked the deal that Trump made with Venezuela, and that’s a shot at Rubio, because Rubio really negotiated that deal,” Morris explained. “That’s interesting. So he’s kind of putting his cards out there with everybody.”
Morris added: “It’s possible that he may run. But I think he probably is polling it, and we’ll see what he says.”
Cruz expressed this week significant concerns about the arrangement, which President Donald Trump announced on August 28. The senator previously described the deal as potentially beneficial for the U.S. economy while advocating for free elections in Venezuela.
Rubio led negotiations with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who has publicly thanked him and Trump for the agreement. Under the terms of the deal, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital takes a 35% stake in a company holding development rights to 17 Venezuelan oil fields. The arrangement has drawn criticism from Democrats and raised questions among some Republicans.
Cruz sought the Republican nomination in 2016, winning the Iowa caucuses and becoming the last major candidate standing against Trump before withdrawing in May of that year. He was reelected to the Senate in 2024 and is not up for re-election until 2030. Cruz has not confirmed whether he will run.
Early polling shows Vance and Rubio leading, with an Emerson College survey conducted May 24-25 placing Vance at 36% and Rubio at 35% among likely Republican primary voters. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley each hold 5%, while 15% remain undecided. Cruz was not included as an option in the poll. The same survey found Vance ahead of Rubio by a margin of 52% to 20% in February.
Morris, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton and now a prominent Trump supporter, has been active in political commentary.
