BREAKING: Cruz breaks with Trump over Iran deal, calls emerging agreement a “disastrous mistake”
Senator Ted Cruz publicly broke with President Trump on Saturday, expressing serious alarm over the framework of an emerging peace agreement with Iran that Trump announced had been “largely negotiated.” Trump posted on Truth Social that final details were being worked out and would be revealed shortly, but made no mention of Iran’s nuclear program or its stockpile of enriched uranium, two issues that had been central to the conflict from the start.
Cruz argued that the military campaign, which began with strikes in late February, had achieved significant results, including the claimed destruction of Iran’s missile capabilities, drone fleet, and naval forces. But he warned that if the outcome of all that is an Iranian regime still led by the same government, still capable of enriching uranium, receiving billions of dollars, and retaining influence over the Strait of Hormuz, then the entire campaign will have been a failure.
Several other hawkish Senate Republicans echoed his concerns, warning that any deal leaving the current Iranian leadership in power could embolden them down the road. It marked a rare and notable fracture between the president and his most reliable congressional allies.
Trump’s outside adviser Alex Bruesewitz pushed back hard on Cruz, accusing him of trying to undermine the president and positioning himself for a 2028 presidential run. Cruz fired back, dismissing Bruesewitz as a “young political grifter” pushing appeasement. The two traded insults publicly for much of the day.
According to a regional official with direct knowledge of Pakistan-led mediation efforts, the proposed framework would officially end the nearly three-month conflict, establish a 60-day window for nuclear negotiations, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and lift the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.