President Donald Trump on Thursday praised Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as the onetime rival mulls a possible 2028 Republican presidential run that could see him face off with Vice President JD Vance.

Responding to a reporter’s question about Cruz “teasing” a White House campaign, Trump had nothing but compliments for the man he famously derided as “Lyin’ Ted” during their 2016 Republican primary dogfight.

“I would say that he’s very talented. He’s a very good friend of mine,” Trump said of Cruz at an unrelated White House event. “I think he might do that, yeah. He’s a talented guy.”

If Cruz runs, the Texas conservative would likely find himself locked in a race against Trump’s Vice President JD Vance and maybe Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well.

Cruz recently spoke openly about his plans to eventually mount another White House campaign.

“it’s no secret that I want to be president,” told Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on his podcast. “This is a bug that history has proved is rarely ended,” Cruz said of his White House aspirations. “It is a permanent and often fatal bug.”

Earlier this week, Cruz rejected the idea that rivals should clear the Republican field for Vance, saying “Oh, no” when asked in an MSNOW interview if the GOP has effectively settled on the vice president as their 2028 standard bearer.

“There’s going to be a full discussion about who we are and what we believe,” he said, adding that “I’ll certainly be part of the discussion.”

Cruz won a dozen states in his unsuccessful 2016 primary race against Trump. He buried the hatchet with the man he slammed as a “pathological liar” and worse and now sings Trump’s praises.

Cruz insisted there is no room for a “Never Trump lane” in a future Republican Party primary.

“He is a unique historical figure. There’s never been anyone like him, I don’t think there will be anyone like him going forward,” Cruz said.

For his part, Trump has spoken highly of both Vance and Rubio, who like Cruz ran against Trump in the 2016 primary..

Rubio is said to be on very good personal terms with Vance and has said he plans to support the veep if he runs in 2028.

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