Vance, Trump Accused of Blocking India-US Trade Deal as Senator’s Leaked Audio Goes Viral

Fresh fault lines within the previous Donald Trump administration have come into sharp focus after a leaked audio recording of Ted Cruz surfaced online, triggering renewed debate over stalled India–US trade negotiations and Washington’s tariff-driven economic strategy.

The audio, reportedly recorded during private conversations with donors in early to mid-2025, captures Cruz offering an unusually candid assessment of internal disagreements within the White House. In the recording, the Texas senator is heard sharply criticising Vice President JD Vance, former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, and at times Trump himself, accusing them of obstructing progress on the long-pending India–US trade agreement.

Cruz positions himself in the recording as a traditional Republican who supports free trade and global economic engagement, distancing his views from what he describes as a more isolationist approach championed by Vance and others. The contrast, observers note, is politically significant as early manoeuvring begins around the 2028 US presidential race.

A central theme of the audio is Cruz’s opposition to Trump’s tariff-heavy trade policies. He warns that aggressive tariffs could inflict serious damage on the US economy, hitting retirement savings, increasing household expenses, and potentially triggering severe political fallout for Republicans. According to Cruz, following the rollout of new tariffs in April 2025, a group of senators held a late-night call with Trump in an attempt to reverse course.

That conversation, Cruz claims, quickly turned hostile. He recounts that the discussion extended past midnight, with the President angrily rebuffing warnings about economic consequences. Cruz recalls cautioning that a sharp fall in retirement accounts combined with rising grocery prices could lead to major electoral losses in the 2026 midterm elections and expose the administration to repeated impeachment efforts.

The senator also ridiculed the administration’s branding of the tariff initiative as “Liberation Day,” suggesting the phrase reflected a fundamental misunderstanding of economic realities. In a pointed remark, he implied such language would be unacceptable in any serious policy operation.

India featured prominently in Cruz’s criticism. He told donors he had been actively pushing the White House to advance a trade deal with New Delhi but faced resistance from within the administration. When asked directly who was blocking progress, Cruz named Navarro, Vance, and occasionally Trump as the principal obstacles.

The leaked recording further reveals Cruz drawing ideological connections between Vance and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, whom he accuses of promoting an anti-interventionist worldview in foreign policy debates. Cruz suggests that Vance closely mirrors Carlson’s thinking, privately drawing a sharper link between the two than he has done publicly in recent months.

While the audio has reignited political controversy in Washington, it has also drawn attention in New Delhi, where expectations of a comprehensive India–US trade agreement have remained unfulfilled. The episode underscores how internal political divisions in the United States have complicated efforts to reset economic ties between the two strategic partners.