Trump's Triumphant Stock Market Surge & the Battle for Texas Water

Summary

Summary of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Episode: "Trump's Triumphant Stock Market Surge & the Battle for Texas Water"
Release Date: April 11, 2025

Hosted by Ben Ferguson and featuring Senator Ted Cruz, this episode delves into President Donald Trump's latest economic policies, their impact on the stock market, and a critical environmental and political issue concerning water rights in Texas.

---

1. Opening Remarks and Oval Office Insights

The episode kicks off with an engaging discussion about Ben Ferguson's experiences visiting the Oval Office under President Trump. Senator Ted Cruz shares anecdotes highlighting Trump's generosity and unique approach to hospitality.

• Ted Cruz reminisces about receiving exclusive merchandise:

  "Trump actually said it. Charles Schwab was here a little while ago, one of the great financial people, and he said he's been waiting for 40 years for somebody to do what I did. And if you didn't do it, you wouldn't have a country. It wouldn't be sustainable. So I'm honored to have done it."
  (00:00)

2. Trump's Tariff Strategy and Stock Market Surge

A significant portion of the discussion centers on Trump's recent tariff announcements and their immediate effects on the stock market.

• Senator Cruz explains the rationale behind urging President Trump to negotiate tariff reductions:

  "The market is in free fall. That's dangerous. People are freaking out."
  (07:00)
  He further emphasizes the need for swift action to stabilize the economy:
  "I said, my advice is cut a deal now. Pick one or two countries. Cut a deal where they slash their tariffs massively and we slash our tariffs massively."
  (08:02)

• Trump's Announcement: Two key actions were taken:

  1. Pausing Reciprocal Tariffs: For 90 days to allow negotiations.

     "He put out an announcement … pausing all of the reciprocal tariffs he had announced on April 2 for 90 days."
     (09:33)

  2. Increasing Tariffs on China: Raising tariffs to 145% as a penalty for fentanyl smuggling.

     "The total tariffs against China are 145%. Now, he announced that."
     (09:56)

• Market Reaction:

  "Within minutes, exploded and stocks soared up."
  (10:27)
  This response marked the single largest increase in the stock market in U.S. history.

3. Internal Administration Dynamics: Angels vs. Devils

Senator Cruz discusses the internal debate within the Trump administration regarding tariff policies.

• Two Camps Identified:

  • Angels: Advocating for leveraging tariffs to secure lower barriers globally, thereby expanding market access for American businesses.
  • Devils: Pushing for maintaining high tariffs indefinitely to generate revenue.

• Cruz's Stance:

  "I would much rather lower the barriers to other countries and let our farmers and ranchers and small businesses and manufacturers export the hell out of it because I think American businesses can beat every company on earth if there's a fair playing field."
  (21:30)

4. Legislative Efforts and Diplomatic Strategies

The conversation highlights Cruz's legislative actions and strategic advice to President Trump to optimize tariff negotiations.

• Legislation for Crypto Industry:
  Cruz mentions a bill he introduced to repeal restrictive Biden-era regulations harming the crypto sector, which was successfully signed into law by Trump.

  "Legislation that I introduced to repeal an incredibly abusive regulation from the Biden administration that harmed the crypto industry."
  (05:41)

• Advice to Trump on Tariffs:
  Cruz advocated for immediate deals with key countries to reduce tariffs, aiming to calm the volatile markets and boost American exports.

  "I said, my advice is cut a deal now. Pick one or two countries. Cut a deal … slash their tariffs massively and we slash our tariffs massively."
  (08:02)

5. The Battle for Texas Water: Treaty Violations and Farmer Hardships

A pivotal segment of the episode addresses the alarming issue of Mexico violating the 1944 Water Treaty, leading to severe water shortages in Texas.

• Background of the Water Treaty:
  The 1944 Mexican Water Treaty mandates Mexico to supply 350,000 acre-feet of water annually to South Texas.

  "Mexico has been openly and brazenly violating the treaty. They've not been providing the water. They are... 1.3 million acre feet in arrears."
  (26:36)

• Impact on Texas Farmers:
  Due to water shortages, South Texas farmers are halving their acreage, leading to massive layoffs and the closure of essential facilities like sugar mills.

  "We're seeing a lot of South Texas farmers that are taking half of their acreage out of production. They're shutting down half of their farms."
  (27:56)

6. Cruz's Legislative Action and Advocacy

Senator Cruz details his proactive measures to address the water crisis, including legislative initiatives and collaborations with key figures.

• Legislative Relief for Farmers:
  Cruz authored legislation providing $280 million in emergency relief for Texas farmers struggling due to water shortages.

  "In December, as part of the continuing resolution, I authored legislation that got adopted that provided $280 million in emergency relief for Texas farmers."
  (28:37)

• Collaboration with Secretary of Agriculture:
  Cruz worked closely with Brooke Rollins, the Secretary of Agriculture, to support affected farmers through press conferences and roundtables.

  "We did a press conference, number one, where she announced, I've got $280 million I'm giving to South Texas farmers..."
  (30:54)

7. Political Shifts and Voter Realignment in Rio Grande Valley

The episode highlights a significant political transformation in the traditionally Democratic Rio Grande Valley, now flipping red in 2024.

• Historic Political Change:

  "The Rio Grande Valley has been bright blue for 100 years. In 2024, the Rio Grande Valley flipped red. I won the Valley and Donald Trump won the valley."
  (31:34)

• Cruz's Investment:
  Cruz emphasizes his extensive efforts and financial investments to secure Republican victories in the Valley, marking a generational political shift in Texas.

  "I think I've invested more than any elected official in Texas in terms of turning the valley red."
  (31:35)

8. Direct Engagement with Mexico and Social Media Diplomacy

Senator Cruz discusses the use of social media by President Trump to directly address and negotiate with Mexico regarding the water treaty violations.

• Trump's Public Statement via Truth Social:
  President Trump issued a statement holding Mexico accountable for treaty violations and threatening further economic actions.

  "Mexico owes Texas 1.3 million acre feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty. ... This ends now."
  (34:15)

• Immediate Response from Mexico:
  Following Trump's tweet, Mexico responded promptly, indicating a willingness to negotiate and resolve the issue.

  "Within an hour of that tweet going out, the president of Mexico sent out a tweet saying we're going to fix this."
  (35:03)

9. Conclusion: Strategic Implications and Future Outlook

Wrapping up the discussion, Cruz underscores the strategic importance of the next 90 days in negotiating favorable trade deals and resolving the water crisis.

• Optimism for Future Agreements:

  "I have a high level of confidence that in the next 90 days we will see a bunch of them [trade deals]."
  (25:13)

• Legacy and Potential Achievements:
  Cruz believes that with the current strategic moves, the Trump administration can achieve unprecedented victories for American jobs and economic growth.

  "President Trump could achieve the greatest victory for jobs and economic growth certainly in our lifetimes and maybe in the history of America now."
  (19:39)

---

Notable Quotes:

• Donald Trump on his financial impact:

  "Somebody had to do it. ... if you didn't do it, you wouldn't have a country. It wouldn't be sustainable."
  (00:00)

• Ted Cruz on leveraging tariffs:

  "Tariffs are taxes. They're coming from American consumers."
  (21:30)

• Senator Cruz on failures and resilience:

  "If you don't walk up a cliff, you ain't growing wings."
  (17:59)

---

Key Takeaways:

1. Economic Strategy: President Trump's tariff policies, especially towards China, have had a profound and immediate positive impact on the U.S. stock market.

2. Internal Policy Debates: There exists a significant divide within the Trump administration between those favoring long-term tariff imposition for revenue and those advocating for strategic reductions to enhance market access.

3. Environmental and Political Crisis: Mexico's violation of the 1944 Water Treaty has led to severe water shortages in Texas, harming farmers and the local economy. Senator Cruz has been at the forefront of legislative and diplomatic efforts to rectify this.

4. Political Realignment: The Rio Grande Valley's shift from Democratic to Republican dominance signifies a broader political realignment in Texas, attributed to effective advocacy and policy-making by Cruz and Trump.

5. Diplomatic Tools: Utilizing social media platforms like Truth Social, President Trump is directly engaging with international partners to address bilateral issues, exemplified by the recent water treaty negotiations with Mexico.

6. Future Prospects: The upcoming 90-day period is critical for executing trade deals that could substantially benefit American industries and further stabilize the economy.

---

This episode provides listeners with an in-depth analysis of current economic policies, geopolitical strategies, and their tangible impacts on both national markets and local communities. Senator Ted Cruz's insights offer a comprehensive understanding of the intricate balance between maintaining economic leverage and fostering international cooperation.

Transcript

[Donald Trump]

Somebody had to do it. Roger actually said it. Charles Schwab was here a little while ago, one of the great financial people, and he said he's been waiting for 40 years for somebody to do what I did. And if you didn't do it, you wouldn't have a country. It wouldn't be sustainable. So I'm honored to have done it.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is a 47 Morning Update Special Edition with Ben Ferguson.

It is 1:51 in the morning. Welcome. It is Ben Ferguson with you on the 47 Morning Update. And I've got a special extended show for you right now as I am going to be joined with Senator Ted Cruz as we are going to give you the latest from the Oval Office where he has spent more than two hours of the president talking about tariffs. We're also going to talk about this insane late night vote as well that is happening as I speak at 151 in the morning as Democrats are doing it to, quote, protest Donald Trump and his agenda and Elon Musk as well. Throw that in there because, you know, why not? And also something else that's shocking. We have Mexico stealing water from America, America and American farmers. The president is now going to stop that, threatening tariffs and also sanctions. It's the 47 Morning Update at 1:51am on Capitol Hill and it starts right now. All right. So let's just start with a little bit of color here. I gotta say, one of the most fun things about going to the Oval Office is Donald Trump loves having guests.

[Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

And the swag that you leave with is just the most incredible level of swag. And he pays for it out of his own pocket.

[Ted Cruz]

He does.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's not the taxpayers. So when I went in the first time, it was in the last and 45 in those years. And they asked if I would come up for State of the Union and Prep and that. And I was there the day to say the Union. And at the end he's like, Ferguson, he's like, I know you got three boys at home. What do you need? And I'm like, Mr. President, whatever, you know, if you'd sign, he's a no, no, come over here. And he walks you around the corner into the room. He has this like full swag room. And he's like, three different hats for the boys signs. And he's like, now one of your son plays golf. He signs a Pro V1 ball for him. Then he gives me another sleeve. Then he gives me a golf towel. And then he's like, and you're laughing because you're in the Oval Office and you're like, I'm going to walk out of here, like, with all this stuff.

[Ted Cruz]

To be fair, you're not in the Oval.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, no, you're outside of it, but you walk back in, you're, like, holding all this stuff in the oven.

[Ted Cruz]

You're in the little office next to the Oval.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes. Where the swag room is.

[Ted Cruz]

And what happened in that little room.

[Ben Ferguson]

Which is one of his favorite stories. He's like, you know. You know where you are right now?

[Ted Cruz]

25 years.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. He's like, you know where you are right now? And I'm like, where am I right now?

[Ted Cruz]

This is where. Monica Lewinsky.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did not have sex with that man.

[Ted Cruz]

But, but, but, but, but sh. I don't know.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay. I think I did it perfectly there.

[Ted Cruz]

I'm trying to find a way to say this. And this is.

[Ben Ferguson]

Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman, quote, unquote. But may have.

[Ted Cruz]

But it's also where the blue dress got sullied.

[Ben Ferguson]

There you go. That's a great way of putting it.

[Ted Cruz]

And it would be in that room, and you kind of look around and it's sort of little, and it's now filled with. If you could imagine, the Make America Great again hats.

[Ben Ferguson]

The 40, 45, 47. I mean, it's. It's.

[Ted Cruz]

It's legit. And he has all these shells full of swag. And he, like, says, hey, what do you want? Take whatever you want.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, there's nothing in there that you can buy. So, like, it's either from there or you don't. Like, it's not.

[Ted Cruz]

And he just does that. Right. And he pays for it all. Like, he's out of his. Like, it's. He's paying for it himself, but he's like, what do you want? You want, like, they had gigantic MAGA hats. They're like, twice the size of a normal head.

[Ben Ferguson]

The one that Elon Musk wore that kind of made it famous. A lot of people remember he put it on. He was like.

[Ted Cruz]

He actually pointed that out. That's the one Elon wears.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

So. And it's got all this stuff. He's got. It's cool stuff. So.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, the VIP gift is what I was told, which I think we can confirm is true, is a. Is. Is the cufflinks. So he looked at me, he's like, ferguson, you need this. Can't buy these anywhere. And he hands them to me. It was like, it's presidential cufflinks. They're amazing. I still have them this day. You've got a pair now as well.

[Ted Cruz]

So I do. And I've had a couple of presidential cufflinks in the past.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

But these are.

[Ben Ferguson]

These are the coolest.

[Ted Cruz]

These are really damn cool. And I will say his challenge coins. So in the military and in law enforcement, people carry challenge coins, and they're typically about the size of a silver dollar. And so if you come to my office. You've been to my office. I have one entire display of military challenge coins. And I probably got, I don't know, 200 of them that, as I've traveled the world.

[Ben Ferguson]

They give them to you. It's awesome.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And then I have another display of law enforcement challenge coins. So police officers, law enforcement. And so the two are. One's behind my desk, the military's behind my desk, and the other is on the other end of my office, like, kind of across my desk. So they're normally about the size of a silver dollar. Trump this evening gave me two challenge coins. He sat behind, and his challenge coins are literally 300% the size of a challenge.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is like the size of the tariff he put on Chinese co.

[Ted Cruz]

It's the size of a pancake.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's.

[Ted Cruz]

It's a coaster.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's a coaster.

[Ted Cruz]

It's a coaster. It's exactly like. It is a straight up one that's sort of gold and fancy. And then he's another. That is gun metal. And he said, actually these are more popular because it's like military gun metal.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And it present the United States and a really cool coin.

[Ben Ferguson]

I love it. That's the fun part about it. And you were there, by the way, for something that was not making big headlines, but it deals with crypto, and we're going to talk about this in another pod.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. I was there for a bill signing, so legislation that I introduced to repeal an incredibly abusive regulation from the Biden administration that harmed the crypto industry. And I got it passed through Congress. The President signed it into law. And so I've been there for a number of bill signings of legislation I passed. But it's always cool because you're passing legislation, the President signed it, and suddenly becomes law.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did you get to keep the pen? He loves giving away the sharpie.

[Ted Cruz]

Yes, and it's not a sharpie. It is much like the challenge coin.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's huge.

[Ted Cruz]

It is huge. It is probably 300% the size of a shark.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's like oversized. So when he signed my boy's hats, he goes, here's the pen. Take the pen home. And I still have the pen at my desk. It's like. And it's got the Trump gold signature on the side.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. So I'll end up in my office framing that signing pen because it's legislation that I passed that's really significant. And in my office, I have a bunch of different pieces of legislation signed, and a number of them are signed, are framed with a signing pan. So I was there for that. But look, a couple of things. One, we talked a lot about tariffs. And let's rewind two days ago.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

So we have talked in this last week, we've had two podcasts entirely devoted to the Trump tariffs. We had won our Friday podcast right after the tariffs came out. 100% of the podcast was on the tariffs. And then our Monday podcast, we talked about two competing camps in the Trump administration. We talked about angels and devils that were on President Trump's shoulders. The angels were urging the president use the leverage of the tariffs you've announced to fight for lower tariffs across the world to expand market access for America. I emphatically agree with that side, the devils. And there are voices in the administration, they want to see massive tariffs in perpetuity from America and every other country. I think that's a terrible outcome. So we did Monday's podcast. We did a deep dive on that. So I will tell you, you and I are sitting here Thursday night. Tuesday night, I spent an hour on the phone with President Trump and I had several other senators there, and we were urging him. What I was saying is, listen, the market is in free fall. That's dangerous. People are freaking out.

[Ben Ferguson]

Sure.

[Ted Cruz]

And my advice to him, and I said, I did Hannity Tuesday night. So I said this on Hannity. So this is not secret advice. I said it on Fox News to the whole country. I said, my advice is cut a deal now. Pick one or two countries. Cut a deal now. I don't care what countries they are. Pick one, pick two, and cut a deal where they slash their tariffs massively and we slash our tariffs massively. I said, I think that will calm the market down enormously. That will assu. That we are headed to a world with much lower tariffs, which, by the way, as I told him, if 30 days, 60 days, 90 days from now, we have a world where every country on earth has massively lower tariffs and American farmers and ranchers and small businesses and manufacturers are able to export all over the world, that will be an historic Win, like an unprecedented win for American workers and American jobs. So that's what I'm urging him. We spent an hour on the phone, and I gotta say, look, President Trump, sometimes when you're urging him to do something, he can push back. And in that call, he was kind of pushing back and popping back, and he's saying, look, these tariffs are great. We're raising a ton of money. What's the problem? Spent an hour. But then on Wednesday, the President put out an announcement at lunchtime. And his announcement was twofold. Number one, he said he was pausing all of the reciprocal tariffs he had announced on April 2 for 90 days.

[Ben Ferguson]

For 90 days, which is enough time to get deals done.

[Ted Cruz]

And number two, he said he was jacking up the tariffs on China even more, he said, to 125,000, although it's actually 125%, but it's actually 145%, because there's an additional 20% that he had announced as a penalty for their role in fentanyl smuggling into this country.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

So the total tariffs against China are 145%. Now, he announced that. I'll tell you, on Wednesday, I was in the Senate Republican Lunch. All the Senate, Senate, Republican senators, we have lunch together every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The middle of the lunch, Rick Scott, who hosts the Wednesday lunch, Rick Scott, looked at his phone and announced, hey, the President just paused all the tariffs and increased the tariffs on China. There wasn't exactly a round of applause, but close. Pretty damn close. There was literally.

[Ben Ferguson]

It was a relief, and, yes, a.

[Ted Cruz]

Palpable sense of relief. And what is striking is the market, within minutes, exploded and stocks soared up. So tonight, when I was in the oval, I said, Mr. President, as a result of your decision yesterday, you produced the single largest increase in the stock market in one day in the history of the United States of America.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's a good day.

[Ted Cruz]

That is a massive day. And so I will say the pause is important. I hope over these next 90 days, I hope what we see is, as we talked about on Monday's pod, there are two. Two paths. Massively reducing tariffs for everyone or keeping tariffs in perpetuity. Over the next 90 days, I hope we see announcement after announcement after announcement of our trading partners, all of whom have come running to President Trump saying, we want to cut a deal. And to be clear, none of this would have happened without the April 2 announcement.

[Ben Ferguson]

None of it. Well, and Scott Bessette, by the way, said this at the White House when they announced this, he walked out and he Said, this is all about leverage, which is what the President said. Take a listen.

[Caroline Levitt]

President's decision. It was the President's decision to wait until today. And again, as I've said in the past, no one creates leverage for himself like President Trump.

[Ben Ferguson]

And he said that, by the way, at the point when the dow was up 2,000 points. Right. So he just announced it, walks out there. And, and then Caroline Levitt also was a reminder like, hey, we're letting the rest of the world off the hook, but when it comes to China, we're not. She said this at the same press conference.

[Caroline Levitt]

As you all know, the President just put out a statement announcing an additional tariff on China. The tariff on China will now go up to 125% because China imprudently decided to retaliate against the United States. And as I said at the podium yesterday, when you punch at the United States of America, President Trump is going to punch back harder. In that same vein, we have had more than 75 countries from around the world reach out to President Trump and his team here at the White House to negotiate better trade deals for the American worker. We have been overwhelmed with the amount of requests from countries around the world. I'll let the Secretary speak to that. We will continue with the tailor made negotiations that I spoke about yesterday. In the meantime, there will be a 90 day pause on the reciprocal tariffs as these negotiations are ongoing and the tariff level will be bring brought down to a universal 10% tariff.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, you listen to them and I think it's pretty clear.

[Ted Cruz]

By the way, I will say this, Caroline Levitt I know really well.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

She's a good friend. So Caroline ran for Congress in New Hampshire and she was running for Congress. If I remember correctly, she was 25 years old.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And by the way, the Constitution, the minimum age for a member of Congress is 25 years old.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

So she was on the House side.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

Yep. Member of Congress is 25, a senator is 30 and the president must be 35. That's what the Constitution lays out. So Caroline was running in New Hampshire. As you know, I raised a ton of money for Caroline.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

I believe, if I remember correctly, north of $100,000 to support her campaign. And I flew to New Hampshire and campaigned with her. She was a great President, She's a great candidate. And by the way, I told the President that tonight. I said, look, she's kicking ass as your press secretary, but she was a fabulous. And the coolest part, we did a huge rally and she rocked it. And it was A lot of energy and excitement. And then we went afterwards to a bar. I think it was a VFW bar, if I remember correctly. And there were, like several hundred, mostly veterans, and we were having a beer with them, and they loved her. It was really cool. It was like a fun. It was after the event, hanging out, having a beer with a bunch of New Hampshire veterans, and it was like a great moment. Now, she ended up. She won the primary. She did not win the general, although I pointed out to her tonight, I said, look, that didn't work out, even though you were a great candidate. But I said, you know what? You'd rather the job you have now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Than being a fresh, biggest house, Biggest blessing in disguise. Because if she was in the house, yeah, she would have done that job. She would be the press secretary right now. It's amazing how those things happen in your life when you're like, you want things so bad and then you don't get it. And then you're like, man, if I would have gotten that, where would I look at what I would have missed?

[Ted Cruz]

You know, the country western song, Some of God's greatest gifts or unanswered prayers?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

There have been multiple steps in my life where I desperately wanted something. I didn't get it. I was crestfallen. I was frustrated. I used to keep. All right, this is going to be sort of a weird admission. When I was in high school and college, I literally kept a file folder. And by the way, for all of you under 30, you don't know what a file folder is, but I had, like, a file cabinet with a folder. You know what it was called?

[Ben Ferguson]

What?

[Ted Cruz]

Failures.

[Ben Ferguson]

How many were in there?

[Ted Cruz]

A lot. Okay, so look, I was someone. I. I tried for things. I applied for things. I wanted to be a Rhodes scholar. I applied for the Rhodes Scholarship. I didn't get it. I was really. I was like, damn, I'd really like to be a Rhodes scholar. I'm pissed. I didn't get it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

But. All right. I think it's 10th grade. Okay. This is. Okay, I'm. I'm sort of embarrassed. Like, you guys know Ben's a jock. He was like a cool kid. And like, you know, although I tried hard.

[Ben Ferguson]

I tried hard.

[Ted Cruz]

Other. To be fair, is a tennis player really a jock?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, you know, it's. It's a sort of sec. It is.

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, it's like a tennis player. You're wearing, like, a white eyes on, like, it's not good swag.

[Ben Ferguson]

We had some. We had some nice Nike swag. Like, we did it right.

[Ted Cruz]

I'm just saying, you were division football.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's not basketball. It's not baseball. I'll give you that. I will give you dunk. No, I cannot dunk.

[Ted Cruz]

I played hoops with you. I knew the answer.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah. Cannot. But I wasn't going for road scholar, I can promise you that. And I didn't have a briefcase. You had a briefcase. That's what we're really getting at.

[Ted Cruz]

No, I didn't have a briefcase. No, I. I'm sorry, I'm not Alex P. Keaton, which no one knows who that was, but he is Michael J. Fox and Family Ties.

[Ben Ferguson]

Amazing show.

[Ted Cruz]

But. But. All right, so in 10th grade, I was sitting there in class with my classmates and they were talking about, like, applying to a scholarship.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And several of my classmates said, well, no, no, I'm not going to apply. And I said, well, why not? And they said, well, if I apply, I might get rejected and I don't want to fail, so I'm not going to do it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And.

[Ben Ferguson]

And you're like, screw that. I'm going for all of it.

[Ted Cruz]

And I wrote a poem in 10th grade, which I don't have, but I'm going to try to remember it. I don't know that I can remember it exactly, but imagine a dreamer walking off a cliff with hopes and aspirations. Many would say his steps were foolish. And yet all the great inventors, discoverers and achievers would say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And here's another element to complicate the matter. What if the walker learned to fly? And this is me as a geeky 15 year old writing a poem. Writing a poem inspired me. Like, if you don't.

[Ben Ferguson]

That was before Chat gbt. So you didn't even steal it from anybody.

[Ted Cruz]

If you don't walk up a cliff, you ain't growing wings.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, fair point.

[Ted Cruz]

And so my. I literally had a whole folder of failures, things I tried to do that I did not accomplish. But if you are to use another great hero of mine. Teddy Roosevelt.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, T.R. gave a great commencement speech about being in the arena. The man who is marred by blood and sweat and mud in the arena. And not one of those cold and timid souls.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

Who know neither victory nor defeat nor.

[Ben Ferguson]

Nor defeat.

[Ted Cruz]

And so I forget where I'm going on this.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, you're. You're talking on TR you're talking about Caroline Levitt failing at the. At the.

[Ted Cruz]

Going for Congress.

[Ben Ferguson]

And now it's the biggest thing in our life. So you're saying, count your failures because they can be your blessings later in life.

[Ted Cruz]

If you have no failures, you've done nothing in life.

[Ben Ferguson]

I just want to prove that right now to my wife, how good of a listener I am because I just saved that whole story right there. I just want credit for that moment. Anyway, continue.

[Ted Cruz]

Is she gonna buy that?

[Ben Ferguson]

I don't know. We'll see if she listens to the show. Because I just. If she, if she doesn't listen, we're both gonna know.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, look, I will say what happened on tariffs Wednesday was a massive day. Number one for the market and for a huge surge. But number two, the 90 days we have an opportunity. This is not hyperbole. President Trump could achieve the greatest victory for jobs and economic growth certainly in our lifetimes and maybe in the history of America now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and you read between the tea leaves here like there does seem to be a strategy here. And this is some of the genius I do have to think of that I give credit for that. A lot of people miss on President Trump. It seems like he's saying, hey, rest of the world, I want to get along with you. I'm going to bust China. They're taking advantage of us. They're still in our intellectual property. It's a national security issue. We witnessed what we witnessed during COVID with them as a nation. I want everybody else to succeed and we're gonna make sure they don't have all of this leverage over not just us, but other partners in the world.

[Ted Cruz]

Yes, but look, the two things I've been urging President Trump for a long time on trade to focus on are, number one, focus on China. I am all for pounding the living daylights out of China. You know, when I arrived in the Senate 13 years ago, what I said then is China poses the single largest geopolitical threat to the United States over the next hundred years.

[Ben Ferguson]

Amen.

[Ted Cruz]

Now, Ben, when I arrived, that was a lonely voice. Almost nobody agreed with me. Every Democrat disagreed with me and most of the Republicans disagreed with me. They looked at China and they saw nothing but dollar signs as far as the eye could see. Now, the world has changed. I think a lot more people have opened their eyes to the danger, to the peril. China is fighting a thousand year war against the United States.

[Ben Ferguson]

And that's not hyperbole. I mean, that's really how they look at it.

[Ted Cruz]

And everything we can do to delink our economy from China is a good step. So I've urged President Trump, you can't focus on China too much the more you can bring jobs out of China, the more you can bring our critical infrastructure out of China. The more you can bring pharmaceuticals out of China, the more you can bring semiconductors out of China. Everything we depend upon, China is coming after us.

[Ben Ferguson]

And this is national security. Things we depend on.

[Ted Cruz]

It is national security, is economic security. This is a fundamental battle. So I am all for focusing on China. But the other principle, reciprocity. Look, I don't want to be overly optimistic. As we mentioned on Monday's podcast, you want to go back and listen to it about angels and devils. There are really vocal and outspoken voices in the administration who don't want the President to lower tariffs in other countries. They want tariffs to be high and there forever. And they want the revenue. Look, tariffs are producing about two and a half billion dollars a day in revenues. Now the point I made to the President, where are those revenues coming from? Tariffs are taxes. They're coming from American consumers. So yes, it's producing a lot of money. But, but I would much rather lower the barriers to other countries and let our farmers and ranchers and small businesses and manufacturers export the hell out of it because I think American businesses can beat every company on earth if there's a fair playing field. Most of the countries we trade with, there's not a fair playing field. And so this opportunity. And listen, President Trump's negotiation strategy is in some ways simple. He walks up to people, he smacks them in the head with a two by four and then he backs up and negotiates from that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And it has proven to be an incredibly effective negotiation strategy. So I will say I'm really, really glad about Wednesday's pause announcement. It produces, I noted, the biggest single day increase in the stock market in history. And I Hope the next 90 days we will see deal after deal after deal slashing tariffs and opening markets to American producers.

[Ben Ferguson]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying something like that in the Cabinet meeting when he said this about the President. And also he said, which I think was interesting, he said, and I'm going to quote him, he said, one of the most important things you'll achieve in your presidency is reordering the world in a proper way. For more than 31 years, multiple administrations have allowed the Chinese to de. Industrialize this country, to take away jobs and factories and pillars of our national strength. Like this is from a Secretary of State who's saying this is the ball game.

[Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

And, and then national security saying this is the ball game. And then producers are saying this is the ball game. And American workers are saying, this is the ball game. I, I've never seen a moment politically where so many different factions are all seem to be aligned and understanding this threat, which is in fact, is China. And so you look at this next 90 days, it's very important and there's got to be deals done. When do you think we'll start to see deals and momentum? Because it's all about momentum. Right. You get one with Vietnam or you get one with Taiwan, or you get one with Malaysia or India or wherever it is. Right. And you start going country by country. When will we start to see that? Because that's what the market's now looking for.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Look, so what I urged the president Tuesday night is, is negotiate a deal fast. I said, I don't care what country.

[Ben Ferguson]

Just get one on the books.

[Ted Cruz]

Get one and have it be a massive reduction on both sides because that will assuage people. Okay, this is the path we're going down. When you have 70 plus countries that are seeking to negotiate deals, that takes a little bit of time. That's complicated.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Ted Cruz]

And so I really like the 90 day pause because it gives you 90 days to negotiate deals. And so I hope in the next 90 days we see deal after deal after deal. And I think it'll build momentum.

[Ben Ferguson]

So you think in weeks we'll start seeing the first ones?

[Ted Cruz]

I don't know. I don't know if it'll be weeks or 30 to 60 days. I don't know how long it takes.

[Ben Ferguson]

90 days gives us time to do it right.

[Ted Cruz]

90 days gives us time to do it right. And I have a high level of confidence that in the next 90 days we will see a bunch of them. How quickly given the 90 day pause, there's not the urgency. What I was urging, what I said on Hannity is do it now, don't wait a week, like, do it tomorrow. Because frankly, the market's freaking out and you don't want people's 401ks to go to crap. And so I think there was real value to moving quickly. The pause essentially buys you time to then negotiate the deals. And I hope that's what they're gonna do.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, before you go to this vote at 1:00 in the morning, Not a joke. I want to ask you about this other. I would just say insane news, because I can't believe that they've been allowed to do it for so long. And that is. That is Mexico stealing water which is suffocating farmers.

[Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Ben Ferguson]

Specifically, it's happening in Texas. And it's making farming industry collapse and farmers disappearing from areas because there is no water.

[Ted Cruz]

So let me give you the background because this is a really important issue. It's important in Texas, but it's important to the country, which is there's a water treaty that we signed with Mexico in 1944, the Mexican Water Treaty of 1944. It obligates Mexico to provide 350,000 acre feet of water a year to South Texas. That's over a five year period.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay.

[Ted Cruz]

For the last five years, Mexico has been openly and brazenly violating the treaty. They've not been providing the water. They are right now, in this five year period, 1.3 million acre feet in arrears water they have not provided that they've committed by treaty to provide. Now what are they doing? They're diverting that water. That should go to South Texas farmers under the treaty, to Mexican farmers. And a couple of things are happening. So in South Texas, there is a massive drought going on. It is doing enormous damage to farmers. And I spent a lot of time in South Texas and the damage to farmers. We're seeing a lot of South Texas farmers that are taking half of their acreage out of production. They're shutting down half of their farms.

[Ben Ferguson]

Just because they don't have the water to do it.

[Ted Cruz]

Right. They're laying off thousands of workers. So there was one sugar mill in all of Texas last year. It shut down because of water, and it shut down because the sugar farmers did not have the water to raise the sugar.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Ted Cruz]

And it's gone.

[Ben Ferguson]

And Mexico on the other side is green as can be.

[Ted Cruz]

It is green as can be. The Mexican farmers are prospering. They're literally stealing our water. And by the way, like, President Trump talks a lot about foreign countries taking advantage of America.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is a great example.

[Ted Cruz]

This is literally the Mexican government stealing our water.

[Ben Ferguson]

And did Joe Biden do anything to stop this?

[Ted Cruz]

Zero.

[Ben Ferguson]

And he knew about it.

[Ted Cruz]

So he knew about it. So I've engaged this issue. I engaged. I started engaging about two years ago and I started engaging when I was down in South Texas and I did a roundtable with farmers and they raised this issue to me. And two years ago, I didn't know what the water Treaty of 1944 was. And they explained it to me. And at the time they were really worried we're gonna lose our sugar mill if this doesn't change. And I said, look, I think I can help. I'm gonna lean in. And I began leaning in aggressively. I forced a vote on the Senate floor on an amendment to direct the State Department to use every lever point we have to force Mexico to comply with the water treaty. I got a majority of the Senate, a bipartisan majority, and then there's a water commissioner for the United States. I, like, leaned in with the water commissioner, said, look, the Senate has spoken. A bipartisan majority. And here's the fundamental problem. Joe Biden didn't give a damn about this. So I desperately tried to get the Biden administration to exert leverage.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And they just didn't care.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, by the way, leverage for Donald Trump at this point was him saying, hey, I'm coming after you with. With tariffs or sanctions, so do the right thing now before I have to do that. And they know he means it. Unlike even if you had that same statement from Joe Biden, he wasn't going to do anything.

[Ted Cruz]

So. And South Texas cities are also facing massive drought. You're literally facing the cities not having enough water for their citizens because Mexico stealing the water. And so I leaned in. I could not get the Biden administration to do a damn thing. In December, as part of the continuing resolution, I authored legislation that got adopted that provided $280 million in emergency relief for Texas farmers because they're going broke. And we're talking about generational farms, farms that have been three, four generations who are being bankrupted because their government is not enforcing the treaty and they're being starved of water. And so several weeks ago, I went down to South Texas with Brooke Rollins. Brooke Rollins is the Secretary of Agriculture. Brooke has been a good friend of mine for 25 years. She's a Texan. She's the first Texan in the history of the country to be the Secretary of Agriculture. She's also the first Secretary of Agriculture ever to go to the Rio Grande Valley.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Ted Cruz]

And she came to the Valley at my request. I asked her, come down with me.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And we did. We did a press conference, number one, where she announced, I've got $280 million I'm giving to South Texas farmers because your federal government has been screwing you by not getting the water back and Mexico is starving you. But we also did a roundtable. We did a roundtable with farmers where Brooke and I talked with the farmers. And the Rio Grande Valley has been bright blue for 100 years. In 2024, the Rio Grande Valley flipped red. I won the Valley and Donald Trump won the valley.

[Ben Ferguson]

Incredible.

[Ted Cruz]

That has never happened. I won Hispanic statewide in Texas by six points. That's never happened. I have spent an enormous amount of time and millions of dollars in the valley trying to flip the valley red. Because I saw the potential there. And so I think I've invested more than any elected official in Texas in terms of turning the valley red. Well, I gotta say, sitting there at that roundtable, you got farmers and ranchers, and you're just asking them, look, over the last four years, did Joe Biden do a damn thing for you?

[Ben Ferguson]

No. And that's how you turn this.

[Ted Cruz]

And what I told them, as I said, listen, if there's one thing you know about Donald Trump, he will stand up to foreign countries and fight for you. And I made that commitment. And frankly, look, these are voters who their entire lives have voted Democrats. Their parents voted Democrat, their grandparents voted Democrat, their great grandparents voted Democrat. And this last election, for the first time, they pulled the lever for Republican. Going down there and saying, look, we're fighting for you. We're gonna get you. The damn water is one of the ways you lock those votes. And it's a generational shift for Texas, by the way.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is the first time for verdict. They've just opened the vote. They're only keeping it open for 15 minutes.

[Ted Cruz]

So I'm gonna go momentarily.

[Ben Ferguson]

You're gonna go momentarily, which means, actually, it's about 12 minutes because I'm a couple minutes behind. This is why I love doing verdict, because this is how it really works in the insanity of the Senate.

[Ted Cruz]

So I will say this. I called President Trump a week ago And I said, Mr. President, it would make a huge difference if you leaned in personally with the President of Mexico and said, provide us the water.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, knock it off.

[Ted Cruz]

And he said, I'll tell you what, I'll send a truth social post. And so I worked with him on the wording of it. And tonight when I was in the oval, I said, Mr. President, can you send that truth post? Yeah, he sent it tonight. I'm gonna read it to you. Here's what President Trump sent this evening. Mexico owes Texas 1.3 million acre feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty. But Mexico is unfortunately violating their treaty obligation. This is very unfair and it is hurting South Texas farmers very badly. Last year, the only sugar mill in Texas closed because Mexico has been stealing the water from Texas farmers. Ted Cruz has been leading the fight to get South Texas the water it is owed. But Sleepy Joe refused to lift a finger to help the farmers. This ends now. I will make sure that Mexico doesn't violate our treaties and doesn't hurt our Texas farmers. Just last month, I halted water shipments to Tijuana until Mexico complies with the 1944 Water Treaty. My agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas farmers. And we will keep escalating consequences, including tariffs and maybe even sanctions until Mexico honors the treaty and gives Texas the water they are owed. And gives Texas the water they are owed is in all caps.

[Ben Ferguson]

There you go.

[Ted Cruz]

That tweet got sent out tonight. I'll tell you in just within an hour of that tweet going out, the president of Mexico sent out a tweet saying we're going to fix this. We're going to fix this. And the Mexican government is freaking out. That's what it looks like when a president who is fighting for America. Joe Biden could have done that for four years, but he didn't give a flip about farmers in South Texas going out of business. The president's tweet, and I can tell you Mexico is in the process now of negotiating with the State Department to provide for the water. We're going to get the water. And that's a great, that's a great.

[Ben Ferguson]

Victory for Texas in America. Go vote. You're on the clock now. I love it.

Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.