Back in 2016, when Ted Cruz briefly pretended to care about presidential temperament, the Texas senator issued a warning about Donald Trump so extreme it sounded absurd at the time. Nearly a decade later, it’s resurfacing — and suddenly doesn’t feel so hypothetical.
In a clip from the heat of the Republican primary, Cruz openly questioned whether Trump could be trusted with nuclear weapons, painting a scenario that drew laughs then and stunned reactions now.
“I don’t know anyone who would be comfortable with someone who behaves this way having his finger on the button,” Cruz said. “I mean, we’re liable to wake up one morning and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark. That’s not the temperament of a leader to keep this country safe.”
The footage is making the rounds again for a reason. Trump has recently escalated his rhetoric about Greenland, declaring on Truth Social that “anything less” than U.S. control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory would be “unacceptable.” What once sounded like Cruz grasping for shock value now looks eerily aligned with Trump’s current fixation.
Denmark’s response has been swift and unmistakably cold. Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen dismissed Trump’s threats after meeting with him at the White House, confirming there remains a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland and warning the U.S. not to cross Denmark’s “red lines.”
The Cruz clip was recorded just two days after his Iowa caucus victory, a brief high point in a campaign that would soon collapse under Trump’s relentless attacks. After initially congratulating Cruz, Trump quickly accused him of fraud, claiming the win was stolen. When asked in New Hampshire whether Trump had crossed a line, Cruz said Trump was “losing it” and warned against elevating a “twitterer-in-chief” to the Oval Office.
None of that lasted.
Cruz went on to lose the nomination, endure Trump’s public insults toward his wife and father, and then — in one of modern politics’ most humiliating reversals — reinvent himself as one of Trump’s most reliable allies. He later defended Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and became a consistent apologist for the same behavior he once described as dangerous.
That history is why the clip has landed so hard online. Social media users called it “jaw-dropping,” with one TikToker joking that it “aged well.” Others weren’t amused, accusing Cruz of enabling Trump “all the way” to the brink of international conflict.
What’s striking isn’t just that Cruz once said this — it’s that he said it clearly, publicly, and accurately. He identified Trump’s volatility, his fixation on grievance, and his inability to restrain himself. Then, when power demanded loyalty, Cruz abandoned every word of that warning.
Now, as Trump openly pressures a NATO ally over territory and treats international diplomacy like a hostage negotiation, Cruz’s decade-old prediction is circulating again — not as a punchline, but as a reminder.
He saw the danger. He said it out loud. And then he chose submission anyway.
Watch the clip below:
Ted Cruz in 2016: "We're liable to wake up one morning and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark." pic.twitter.com/vSLGaquEIY
— Molly Ploofkins (@Mollyploofkins) January 14, 2026
