U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he still wants to be president, though he is not yet committing to another run in 2028.
“It’s no secret that I want to be president. I ran for president,” Cruz said during an appearance on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s “Lt. Dan” podcast.
When Patrick asked directly whether Cruz would run again, Cruz responded, “Time will tell.”
Patrick then offered his own assessment of the potential 2028 Republican field—including another prominent Texan.
“I think Greg Abbott wants to run. I think Ron DeSantis wants to run. I think there’s a long list who want to run,” Patrick said, after praising Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “I can’t imagine you not being on the stage.”
“We will see,” Cruz responded.
Cruz then acknowledged that presidential ambitions have a tendency to stick around.
“This is a bug that history has proved is rarely ended,” Cruz said. “It is a permanent and often fatal bug.”
The exchange came during a discussion about Cruz’s repeated refusal to consider an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The reason I’m a no is a principled federal judge stays out of politics and stays out of policy and simply follows the law,” Cruz said. “I don’t want to stay out of politics. I want to be right in the middle of these fights.”
Cruz said the possibility was not hypothetical during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Following Trump’s 2016 election victory, Cruz traveled to Trump Tower and spent roughly four and a half hours with Trump and his senior team. Cruz said Trump did not formally offer him the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, but spent around half an hour trying to persuade him to consider it.
Cruz said Trump seriously discussed Supreme Court vacancies with him three times during his first term.
For now, Cruz says he remains more interested in elected office than the Supreme Court.
And he is not ruling out another run for the White House.
