Cruz said he sat for a combative interview with Carlson to directly challenge claims that supporting Israel or retaliating against Iran could lead to global conflict.
“I knew that it was going to be a contentious interview,” Cruz said. “I knew that Tucker Carlson was going to come in on the warpath, coming after me … I thought it was important to lay out the other side of the argument.”
Carlson had conceded during the interview that he believed in 2020 the American strike that eliminated Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani could have led to World War III.
Cruz accused Carlson of adopting “extreme isolationist” views and misleading the public.
“He has been advocating abandoning Israel, not supporting Israel, and hyperbolically claiming that if America supported Israel and acted against Iran, that we would go into World War III,” Cruz said. “All of those have proven not just a little bit wrong, but totally and completely wrong.”
Cruz defended the recent U.S. airstrike that targeted three suspected Iranian nuclear facilities, describing it as a necessary and narrow action.
“The objective of this attack was very narrowly focused. It was to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons capability,” Cruz said. “Given the magnitude of the ordnance … I think the probability is very high that we have succeeded.”
Though he acknowledged the possibility that Iran could attempt to rebuild its nuclear capabilities, Cruz said any future action would depend on new intelligence and strategic necessity.
“It’s going to take some time for the intelligence to assess exactly what the scope of the damage was,” he said.
Cruz explained that a classified briefing for senators was scheduled for later that day, June 26, when the exclusive interview with DX took place.
“If Iran rebuilds its nuclear weapons capability … I would expect that both Israel and the United States would do this all over again.”
Cruz dismissed the notion that the strike was an escalation toward regime change or war in the style of the Iraq War.
“President Trump didn’t invade Iran. He’s not going to,” Cruz said. “I would certainly oppose boots on the ground in Iran … The purpose of the attack was not to topple the regime, nor was it to try to produce a democratic utopia in Iran.”
Turning to the broader U.S.-Israel relationship, Cruz emphasized that the alliance benefits American security and intelligence.
“Israel is by far America’s strongest ally in the Middle East,” he said.
He noted that the U.S. gives Israel no economic aid and about $3 billion annually in military assistance.
“America gets much more than $3 billion worth of value keeping America safe,” Cruz said. “Israel’s intelligence, the Mossad, is by far the best in the region, and Israel shares their intelligence with America. If we try to recreate an intelligence network comparable to Israel’s Mossad, it would cost tens of billions of dollars.”
Cruz pointed to Israel’s role in targeting terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which have killed Americans.
“When Israel is taking out Hezbollah terrorists, that is making Americans safer,” he said.
Cruz also lauded Israel’s recent covert campaign against Iranian military leadership, crediting it as a sign of the depth of Israeli intelligence.
“It was an incredibly powerful demonstration of the intelligence penetration and sophistication Israel has,” he said, describing how successive Iranian commanders were eliminated days apart.
On whether the U.S. could seek an alternative strategic partner in the region, Cruz was blunt. “Well, sadly, under Joe Biden, we saw some of that policy play out.”
Cruz accused the Biden administration of weakening U.S.-Israel ties and empowering Iran.
“They flowed $100 billion into Iran … It funded Iran’s terror campaign, it funded Iran’s nuclear weapons research, it funded Hamas and Hezbollah,” he said. “In a very real sense, the $100 billion that Joe Biden and the Democrats flowed to Iran paid for the Hamas death squads on October 7th.”
When asked about possible growing fatigue among some Americans and Texans about the costs of the U.S.-Israel alliance, Cruz was dismissive. “I’m in Texas, I hear very little of that,” he said. “The Texans I hear from believe we should stand unshakably with the state of Israel.”
Cruz framed his own foreign policy approach as a third way between neoconservative interventionism and libertarian isolationism. “I’ve always described my view as a third point on the triangle. I am a non-interventionist hawk,” he said.
Criticizing past interventions in Iraq and Libya, Cruz said military force should only be used when it makes America safer. “The limited bombing attack on Iran made America safer,” he said.
Returning to his critique of Carlson, Cruz cited what he described as Carlson’s ignorance or dismissal of Iranian plots to assassinate Trump.
“Tucker spent the entire interview insisting that Iran was not trying to murder President Trump. That claim is utterly and completely false,” Cruz said. “The Department of Justice has indicted Iranian hitmen for trying to murder President Trump.”
Cruz’s statement aligns with federal indictments. In 2024, the Justice Department under President Joe Biden indicted several Iranian nationals in New York in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President Trump.
Cruz concluded by contrasting Carlson’s rhetoric with Trump’s leadership.
“What we should do is exactly what President Trump did — a focused and limited bombing strike to remove their nuclear weapons capability,” he said. “That’s what President Trump did, and it was bold, decisive presidential leadership.”