'He's clearly running for president,' Vice President JD Vance quipped in an interview with news host Megyn Kelly last week, referring to Senator Ted Cruz. 

Kelly, in an effort to tease out Vance's presidential ambitions, asked the vice president who would represent the 'non-interventionist' wing of the Republican party if he did not run. 

'Well I think the, you know, committed non-interventionist America first, Ted Cruz could be a representative for that wing of the party,' Vance said with a chuckle. 

But Vance's remark reveals what he and his allies view as an apparent attempt by Cruz to challenge him on the presidential debate stage in 2028. 

Indeed, the public discourse surrounding President Donald Trump's proposed nuclear deal to end the war in Iran has potential 2028 Republican presidential hopefuls positioning themselves as they weigh future political ambitions.

The 14-point memo of understanding, signed by Trump and Iranian leaders, declares an end of military operations and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. 

In exchange for Iran committing to not procuring or developing nuclear weapons, the United States will lift punishing economic sanctions and unfreeze billions of dollars of Iranian assets. Final peace negotiations are underway. 

Cruz is one of the most outspoken Republican critics of the deal, telling Americans that former President Ronald Reagan would be 'rolling in his grave.'

Cruz is among those furious with President Trump for working with Iran, but blame advisors rather than the president himself. In recent days, Cruz has described the deal as 'foolish,' 'ill-advised' and making 'no sense whatsoever' - even as the vice president took the stage to hammer out the details with Iranian officials in Switzerland last weekend.

'I think the president is receiving some very poor advice on this deal,' Cruz told reporters on Capitol Hill this month, which Vance allies viewed as a subtle reference to the vice president.

Cruz's criticism of the deal is viewed by Vance supporters as an obvious attempt to position himself for a future run for president.

While Cruz has not indicated whether he plans to run in 2028, Washington insiders told the Daily Mail they have no doubt he will throw his hat in the ring.

Behind the scenes, Cruz has repeatedly trashed Vance's views on foreign policy with donors, warning them of a rising 'isolationist' wing of the Republican party that would threaten American global supremacy. 

Cruz has also made a point of criticizing journalist Tucker Carlson, accusing Vance of being a pawn of the increasingly volatile podcaster, who publicly broke with Trump over the Iran war and blamed Israel for pressuring the president into an unpopular war. 

Carlson announced in a recent interview he was 'done' with the Republican Party, but continues to praise Vance publicly as 'smart' and 'a personal friend.'  

'Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker's protégé, and they are one and the same,' Cruz told Republican donors in 2025, according leaked audio obtained by Axios.  

Cruz has no shortage of ambition. The Texas senator has long felt that Trump robbed him of the presidency in 2016 and that he could have easily beat the unpopular Democrat Hillary Clinton if he had been the Republican nominee, sources told the Daily Mail. 

With Trump finally absent from the presidential debate stage, Cruz feels he could easily compete with potential 2028 candidates, especially with political 'neophytes' like Vance. 

At the very least, Cruz represents those who are worried about the future of the Republican party and believe it's important for someone to stand up for the conservative principles of Ronald Reagan.

Trump's sharp pivot away from the Iran war in favor of a peace deal has alarmed more hawkish members of the Republican party. 

Republican donors believe a Cruz presidential run would at least force a debate on the issues, rather than allow Vance to pivot to a non-interventionist foreign policy unchallenged.

Many Senate Republicans are rolling their eyes behind the scenes and trashing Vance's approach to Iran as 'naive' and 'worse than Obama,' sources told the Daily Mail.

Republican critics of the deal expect the proposed agreement will blow up in the vice president's face, leaving him politically weakened.

Trump officials, however, are mocking the idea of Cruz running for president.

'Ted is an instrument of the donor class, a very unlikable instrument, who unbeknownst to him will never be president,' a White House insider told the Daily Mail.

A Cruz spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the Texas senator was primarily concerned about the terms of the Iran deal since May 23, and had not made a decision about running for president.  

'Since the deal was confirmed, he has repeatedly said that providing billions of dollars in sanctions relief to a regime that chants "Death to America," sponsors terrorism, and seeks to harm Americans is a mistake,' the spokesperson said.

Donors are also concerned about Vance's willingness to publicly criticize Israel, particularly during the White House press briefing last week.

'If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,' Vance said, reminding Israelis that Trump was the 'only head of state' sympathetic to Israel in the 'entire world.'

Leaks to the press of the president privately berating Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu were viewed as Trump trying to reassert his independence, with no real animosity toward the Israelis, supporters of Israel told the Daily Mail. 

But they, too, were alarmed by Vance's comments, feeling that the vice president had gone too far with his criticism, further than even the president was comfortable with.

But the White House disputed the notion that Vance had gone rogue.

'There is no pearl clutching in this White House,' a White House official told the Daily Mail. 'Everyone including the vice president is following the President's lead on the peace deal and no amount of handwringing and bedwetting from Washington, DC Republican "panicans" will change that.'

The White House told the Daily Mail that supporters of Israel had nothing to fear, even while defending Vance's critical remarks. 

'The President and the Vice President are on the same page: Israel has always been a great ally to the United States, and there has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump,' White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told the Daily Mail.