Skip to main content
Monday, November 2, 2026Nov 2

This story is free to read.

AP Conversation: Cruz’s ambitious foreign policy has limits

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, poses for a portrait following an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Cruz outlined an approach to foreign policy inspired by Ronald Reagan, saying he would restore the American leadership missing from the world under President Barack Obama. But pressed on how he would address specific hotspots of today, Cruz places limits on American action, including refusing to back ground troops to combat the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, poses for a portrait following an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Cruz outlined an approach to foreign policy inspired by Ronald Reagan, saying he would restore the American leadership missing from the world under President Barack Obama. But pressed on how he would address specific hotspots of today, Cruz places limits on American action, including refusing to back ground troops to combat the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, poses for a portrait following an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Cruz outlined an approach to foreign policy inspired by Ronald Reagan, saying he would restore the American leadership missing from the world under President Barack Obama. But pressed on how he would address specific hotspots of today, Cruz places limits on American action, including refusing to back ground troops to combat the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON (AP) – If he’s elected president next November, Ted Cruz vows a dramatic shift in how America engages with the world.

Cruz promises to destroy the Islamic State, beat back aggression from Russia, China and Iran, and ensure terrorists don’t infiltrate the U.S. homeland.

Yet he also places notable limits on his approach to national security. In an interview with The Associated Press, he outlines a prospective foreign policy that is both broadly ambitious and cautious at times in the specifics.

In an election increasingly focused on national security in the wake of the Paris attacks, Cruz says he has one goal above all others once in the Oval Office.

He says, “the pre-eminent job of the commander-in-chief is to keep this country safe. It is the first responsibility.”