Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, publicly broke with the White House on Saturday over the emerging terms of a U.S.-Iran peace framework, calling himself "deeply concerned" the deal would hand Tehran sanctions relief and a path to continued uranium enrichment, resulting in trading insults online with one of President Donald Trump's outside advisers in a rare display of GOP discord as the administration races to close a deal ending the nearly three-month war.

The flashpoint was an announcement Trump posted to Truth Social earlier in the day, declaring a peace agreement with Iran had been "largely negotiated" and would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

However, Trump offered no detail on Iran's nuclear program or its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, long the central sticking point in stalled talks.

Cruz fired off a response on X within hours.

He called the February decision to strike Iran "the most consequential" of Trump's second term and praised what he said were the operation's military results, but warned that the proposed framework risked squandering them.

"If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by Islamists who chant 'death to America' — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake," he wrote.

The post drew a sharp reply from Alex Bruesewitz, an outside Trump adviser who helped run the 2024 campaign's podcast strategy.

"Cool, Ted. No one asked you, bro," Bruesewitz wrote, accusing Cruz of trying to undermine the president.

Cruz hit back minutes later: "Hush, child. The adults are talking. I'm not your 'bro.' And young political grifters pushing Iran appeasement are not remotely helping the President."

Cruz was not alone.

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker also blasted the reported terms, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo drew a profane rebuke from White House communications director Steven Cheung after voicing his own objections, Fox News reported.

The substance behind the fight: The proposed framework would formally end the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, 2026, set a 30-to-60-day window for negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and lift the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, according to AP and Iranian officials briefed on the talks.

Iran's foreign ministry has said the nuclear file is not part of the initial framework.

Trump administration officials had justified the February strikes by claiming Iran posed an imminent nuclear threat, a rationale federal intelligence assessments and outside experts have disputed.