Washington: The tussle within the American government has now come to light over the proposed trade agreement between India and America. According to a report, some big faces of the Trump administration themselves are standing in the way of this deal. American media outlet Axios, quoting Trump’s Republican MP Ted Cruz, has said that Vice President JD Vance and White House economic advisor Peter Navarro prevented the trade deal with India from moving forward. The report claims that an audio recording of Cruz has surfaced, in which he is heard openly expressing his displeasure over this issue in private meetings with his donors.

Fighting for an agreement with India

In the recording, Cruz says that he is ‘fighting the White House’ to pursue the agreement with India. When asked who was opposing it, he mentioned Navarro, Vance and sometimes President Donald Trump himself. The interesting thing is that Donald Trump is publicly giving very positive statements regarding India-America relations. Trump had said during the World Economic Forum in Davos,
‘I have great respect for your Prime Minister. He is a wonderful person and my friend. There will be a good deal between us. But the picture inside is said to be different.

Heated debate with Trump regarding tariffs

According to the report, Cruz warned in a conversation with donors that Trump’s tariff policy could cause huge damage to the American economy. He said that if people’s savings decrease and inflation increases before the 2026 elections, the Republican Party will suffer huge losses and Trump may face continued impeachment. Cruz also told that when Trump implemented new tariffs in April 2025, he and several senators talked to Trump till late night and asked him to change the decision. But the conversation went poorly. According to Cruz, Trump was angry at that time and the conversation became quite heated.

What did you say on JD Vance?

In the recording, Cruz also targeted Vice President JD Vance and described him as a ‘disciple’ of TV commentator Tucker Carlson. They allege that the thinking of Vance and Carlson is weakening America’s foreign policy. It is clear from this entire incident that the India-US trade agreement is no longer an issue of just two countries. This has now become a big controversy even within American politics. This recording is of 10 minutes, which is from the beginning or middle of 2025.