Unanimous Cruz? Trump Dares The Senate

President Trump told a Texas rally crowd he’d pick Senator Ted Cruz for the Supreme Court, claiming every senator from both parties would vote yes just to get Cruz out of the Senate.

Quick Take

Trump said at a Texas rally he would nominate Cruz for a future Supreme Court vacancy.
Trump predicted “100%” of senators would confirm Cruz, joking both parties want him gone from Congress.
Cruz has said Trump privately raised Supreme Court vacancies with him three times during his first term, and Cruz turned each one down.
No Supreme Court seat is currently open, and no formal nomination process has started.

Trump Names Cruz As His Pick

Speaking at a Texas campaign event ahead of the midterms, Trump told the crowd flatly: “I would pick Ted Cruz to be the next Supreme Court Justice.” The remark wasn’t a vague hint about an unnamed senator. Trump named Cruz directly, with Cruz reportedly standing just feet away as he said it.

Trump called Cruz “a brilliant guy, brilliant lawyer” while making the case. He leaned on Cruz’s legal background and Senate record to argue the Texas Republican would be a strong fit for the nation’s highest court, even though no seat is currently vacant.

A Joke With a Political Point

Trump’s reasoning for predicting unanimous support wasn’t about legal credentials. He said Democrats would vote for Cruz “because they hate the guy and want to get rid of him,” while Republicans would do the same “because they can’t stand him.” He summed it up simply: “So I’d get 100% of the vote.”

That argument is political, not judicial. Trump didn’t point to bar association reviews, court rulings, or constitutional writings. His pitch rested entirely on the idea that senators in both parties dislike Cruz enough to want him out of their chamber, a claim no senator has publicly confirmed or denied.

Cruz Already Said No Three Times

Cruz has publicly described earlier private talks with Trump about Supreme Court openings. During an interview on Wall Street Journal Opinion Live, Cruz said: “In the first Trump term, the president spoke to me seriously about all three vacancies, and three times I said no.”

Cruz explained he turned down the opportunities because he didn’t want to leave the political fights he was engaged in. That history raises a real question about whether Cruz would actually accept a nomination this time, separate from whether Trump would offer one.

No Vacancy, No Process Yet

Nothing in the public record points to an open Supreme Court seat, a formal nomination, or any Senate Judiciary Committee action tied to Cruz. Trump’s comments describe a hypothetical scenario tied to a future vacancy, not a current legal process.

Supreme Court nominations historically move through Senate confirmation votes, and the outcomes vary widely by era. The Senate has confirmed 128 of 165 Supreme Court nominations since 1789, but confirmations have grown more partisan in recent decades. From 1900 through 2020, nearly half of roll-call confirmation votes split largely along party lines, a pattern that makes Trump’s unanimous prediction stand out as unusual.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump floated nominating Ted Cruz to the Supreme Court for a future vacancy on the nation's high court, joking that the Texas Republican senator's confirmation would earn unanimous support because senators from both parties would like to see him gone

— HPG (@DarkCloud1313) October 28, 2026

Whether Trump’s comments were a serious trial balloon or campaign-trail humor, they put Cruz’s name back into national conversation about the court’s future. For now, the idea exists only as a public statement from the president, not as an active nomination.