--- description: Senator Ted Cruz and presumptive Republican nominee for president Donald Trump met on Friday for the first time since Cruz dropped out title: Donald Trump Asks Ted Cruz to Speak at Republican Convention image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ef995d47296ce36/69889b10cd1bbac1bc701673/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Asks Ted Cruz to Speak at Republican Convention  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2016 8:09 PM CUT  Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz shake hands on stage for the Florida debate on March 10, 2016. Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz shake hands on stage for the Florida debate on March 10, 2016.Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 7, 2016 8:09 PM CUT Senator Ted Cruz and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump met on Friday for the first time since [Cruz dropped out](http://time.com/4317299/ted-cruz-drops-out-ends-campaign-indiana-primary-analysis/ "undefined") of the GOP race. Cruz has not endorsed the candidate who beat him in the GOP primary, but the senator [has not ruled](http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/07/politics/donald-trump-meets-with-ted-cruz-reince-priebus/ "undefined") an endorsement out. Trump asked Cruz to speak at the Republican National Convention later this month, said Cruz spokesperson Catherine Frazier in a statement. “Cruz said he would be happy to do so,” Frazier wrote. Trump also asked Cruz for advice about judicial nominations, and Cruz said he would help ensure keeping “principled constitutionalists” on the court. RNC Chair [Reince Priebus](http://time.com/4301560/reince-priebus-2016-time-100/ "undefined") was also at the meeting, which had the potential to be somewhat tense. The race between Cruz and Trump grew [personal](http://time.com/4268984/ted-cruz-donald-trump-coward-wife-heidi/ "undefined") in the days leading up to Cruz [suspending his campaign](http://time.com/4317340/ted-cruz-drops-out-suspends-campaign-speech-transcript/ "undefined"), notably with a bizarre battle over [both candidates’ spouses](http://time.com/4270412/trump-cruz-twitter-wives/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4397249/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting-rnc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4397249/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting-rnc/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Asks Ted Cruz to Speak at Republican Convention","datePublished":"2016-07-07T20:09:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:07:18.303Z","description":"And Cruz \"would be happy to do so\"","url":"https://time.com/4397249/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting-rnc/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","politics","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ef995d47296ce36/69889b10cd1bbac1bc701673/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ef995d47296ce36/69889b10cd1bbac1bc701673/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"donald trump ted cruz meeting","caption":"donald trump ted cruz meeting","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4397249/donald-trump-ted-cruz-meeting-rnc/","name":"Donald Trump Asks Ted Cruz to Speak at Republican Convention"}}]}] ```