Republican strategist Dick Morris (Newsmax)
Republican strategist Dick Morris said Sen. Ted Cruz may enter the 2028 presidential race, which would turn the early competition for the party’s nomination into a three-way contest with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“He may make it a three-way race of Cruz, Rubio, and Vance,” Morris said Saturday on Newsmax’s “Saturday Report.” “He said he’d like to be president. He certainly ran strong in 2016.”
Morris pointed to the Texas senator’s recent criticism of the Trump administration’s oil agreement with Venezuela as a signal of his intentions, saying it doubled as a jab at a potential rival.
“He attacked the deal that Trump made with Venezuela, and that’s a shot at Rubio, because Rubio really negotiated that deal,” Morris said. “That’s interesting. So he’s sort of kind of putting his cards out there with everybody, if you will.”
He added: “It’s possible that he may run. But I think he probably is polling it, and we’ll see what he says.”
Cruz said this week that he has significant concerns about the arrangement, which President Donald Trump announced Aug. 28. The senator had earlier called the deal potentially positive for the U.S. economy while pressing for free elections in Venezuela.
Rubio led the negotiations with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who has publicly thanked him and Trump for the agreement. Under the deal, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital takes a 35% stake in a company holding development rights to 17 Venezuelan oil fields. It has drawn criticism from Democrats and questions from some Republicans.
Cruz sought the nomination in 2016, winning the Iowa caucuses and finishing as 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 again until 2030. He has not said whether he will run.
Early polling has centered on Vance and Rubio. An Emerson College survey conducted May 24-25 put Vance at 36% and Rubio at 35% among likely Republican primary voters, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 5% each and 15% undecided. Cruz was not included as an option. The same poll found Vance had led Rubio 52% to 20% in February.
Morris, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton who has since become a prominent Trump supporter, is a regular Newsmax contributor.
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