Texas Senator Ted Cruz is mulling launching a second presidential campaign if former President Trump doesn’t run in 2024.

According to reports from The Daily Mail:

‘The race in ’24 will very much hinge on whatever President Trump decides to do,’ Cruz told NBC News for a profile that came out Monday about the Texas Republican’s presidential ambitions. ‘President Trump is going to make his decision whether or not he runs, or nobody else is going to make that decision for him. And I expect that everyone else will react accordingly when he does make that decision.’

Last month, he answered, ‘absolutely, in a heartbeat,’ when asked by the Truth Gazette if he’d run for president in 2024.

‘There’s a reason historically that the runner-up is almost always the next nominee,’ Cruz said, calling the 2016 campaign ‘the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.’

Cruz noted that the runner-up typically heads into the next election with a huge base of support. However, recent polls have typically put Cruz behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

‘I don’t think he would run against Trump,’ a person close to Cruz told NBC News. ‘I don’t know that Trump’s going to run. But if Trump doesn’t run, I’m quite certain he will run.’

Ultimately, if Trump decides not to run his endorsement will be highly sought after by what will surely be a crowded field of primary contenders. Cruz has already lined himself up nicely to receive the Trump seal of approval after serving as a close confidant to the President during his term.