Ted Cruz tells comedians he played key role in pushing Trump to strike Iran, end peace talks

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claimed on a recent podcast with two comedians that he played a role in pushing President Donald Trump to attack Iran and urged him to cease negotiating with the regime on the day before the first strike.

"Look, I urged the president to launch this attack. As you noted, I was with him pretty much the entire day on Friday before the attack launched on Saturday," Cruz told stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster, during an episode of their popular "Triggernometry" podcast that aired Sunday.

Cruz recounted that when he was one-on-one with the president as he traveled to an event in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Feb. 27, he advised him that the Iranian regime had weakened and that removing it would be in the best interests of the United States.

Ted Cruz admits he played a key role in pushing President Trump to launch a war with Iran just one day before it started.

He told Trump that the collapse of Iran would be one of the greatest steps for America’s safety.

Cruz says he persuaded the President to abandon all… pic.twitter.com/yNlh0I99aq

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) March 22, 2026

"Pretty much the whole time, he was asking me what I thought we should do on Iran," Cruz said. "And I said, 'Look, I think we should, we should not miss this moment. I think the regime is weaker than it ever has been, and we have an opportunity. If we can collapse this regime, America will be much, much safer. There are very few things on planet earth that would do more to ... improve American national security as much as seeing this regime collapse.'"

When Trump asked him if the U.S. should consider continuing negotiations, Cruz said he thought any such endeavor would be hopeless and that the regime was lying about their nuclear ambitions.

"[Trump] asked me in the Beast [presidential limo], he said, 'Well, look, do you think we should negotiate further?' And I said, 'No.' I said, 'I don't believe they're negotiating in good faith. They are liars. I think the ayatollah just wants to delay and delay and delay while they rebuild.'"

Cruz said he told Trump that the only potential negotiating tactic that remained was allowing the late ayatollah and his deputies to go into exile, which is the opportunity the U.S. offered to former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro before extraditing him in January.

"I said I could live with that deal, for the ayatollah to give him and the mullahs the same choice. You can leave and allow a new regime to come to power in Iran, or if you don't leave, the alternative is going to be less than pleasant," Cruz added.

Cruz also said during the interview that maintaining a good relationship with Israel is beneficial to the U.S. because it offers access to intelligence from the Mossad.

"We get massive benefits," he said. "Number one, the Mossad is an incredibly effective intelligence agency, and they share that intelligence with us. We're seeing this right now in this war with Iran."

Ted Cruz says Americans get a major hidden advantage from supporting Israel, gaining access to Mossad intelligence.

He points to the current Iran war as proof, saying anyone questioning Mossad’s skills only needs to look at what’s happening now.

Cruz adds that backing Israel is… pic.twitter.com/d859vZT5gz

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) March 23, 2026

Cruz has been an outspoken supporter of Israel throughout his political career and drew scrutiny when he claimed during a contentious interview with Tucker Carlson last summer that his goal was to be the "leading defender of Israel" in the U.S. Senate. He based his position on his Christian faith and his interpretation that God's personal promise to Abram in Genesis 12:3 promises blessings in return for blessing the modern-day nation state.

Cruz has received approximately $1.87 million in career contributions from pro-Israel interests through 2024, ranking him among the top recipients in the U.S. Senate over the past three decades.