NEW YORK — Sen. Ted Cruz met Tuesday with Donald Trump, saying he looks forward to helping the president-elect — and sidestepping a question about whether he'd like to be part of the new administration.
"I look forward to working hard to help lead the fight to actually accomplish the conservative agenda that Donald Trump and Mike Pence and Republicans across this country campaigned and promised the voters to deliver," he said.
Cruz emerged from an elevator at Trump Tower about two hours after he'd entered unseen. Outside, in front of a Gucci window displaying sweaters and coats, he spoke briefly with reporters camped out all day for a glimpse of the aides, advisers, supplicants and potential Cabinet members coming and going.
"This election was a mandate for change," Cruz said when asked why he'd come. "The American people rose up and spoke overwhelmingly to say that the path we're on, it didn't work. And they want change, and they have given Republicans a historic opportunity — putting a Republican in the White House, electing a Republican House and a Republican Senate. And it is now time for us to deliver.
At Trump Tower, asked if he'd like a spot in the administration, Cruz didn't answer directly.
"I am looking forward to fighting hard, to actually accomplish and deliver the promises we made," he said. "It is time for us to turn this economy around, it is time for us to protect the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and I look forward to working very closely with the president-elect, the vice president-elect to repeal Obamacare and to confirm a strong conservative Supreme Court justice to protect the rights of all Americans."
Before Cruz emerged, spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that he was "pleased" to meet with Trump and looks forward to helping the new administration on a number of fronts: repealing Obamacare, appointing conservative judges, securing the border, and delivering on the "clear mandate to `drain the swamp' in Washington."
