CLEVELAND — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Florida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll MORE has endorsed Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE for president. So have Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 At indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates MORE (Wis.), Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton Tom Bryant CottonBattle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight Sunday shows - Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death dominates Chris Wallace presses Cotton on 'any hypocrisy' between comments on Supreme Court vacancy in 2016 and today MORE and other GOP stars who could make a future bid for the White House.

Not Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzMurkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight Sunday shows - Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death dominates MORE.

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After a bitter primary, the Texas senator and conservative firebrand hasn’t publicly thrown his support behind his one-time presidential foe, even after the New York billionaire businessman offered him a primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.

On Day Three of the massive GOP gathering, it was still unclear whether Cruz planned to use his address to formally endorse Trump. And while Team Cruz had planned to share the senator’s speech with Trump campaign officials, Cruz’s former campaign manager, Jeff Roe, on Wednesday played coy when asked if Trump’s top people would need to sign off on the speech.

Cruz is performing a tricky balancing act as he considers his own political future and a possible second presidential bid in 2020 if Trump loses in November.

A Tea Party favorite, Cruz wants to keep a safe distance from a GOP nominee who is distrusted by social conservatives and whose divisive rhetoric and personal attacks many Republicans see as politically toxic. During the primary, Trump falsely suggested that Cruz’s Cuban-born father, Rafael, was linked to the John F. Kennedy assassination.

But the former Texas solicitor general also is aware that he could bear the brunt of the blame if he refuses to help Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Democratic super PAC to hit Trump in battleground states over coronavirus deaths Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE wins the White House. Such a scenario could alienate millions of Trump supporters that Cruz would need if he mounted another presidential bid in 2020.

“It is well known that Cruz had the most sophisticated campaign operation during the primaries. He will continue to reach out to the American people each and every day until he helps us return to our founding principles,” said a conservative GOP House lawmaker close to Cruz who is attending the Cleveland convention.

“So he is prepping for 2020, 2024 and beyond.”

While this is Trump’s convention, Cruz’s outreach efforts were on full display Wednesday ahead of his 9:45 p.m. address. He’s working to maintain relationships with former campaign aides and volunteers and held a rally at a lakeside bar in Cleveland to thank his delegates and grassroots supporters, who jeered at every mention of Trump.

"In an amazing field of 17 talented, amazing candidates, we beat 15 of those candidates. We just didn't beat 16," Cruz said during the event.

"Our party now has a nominee," he continued, as his delegates immediately cut him off with a string of boos.

Coincidentally, Trump's plane — carrying the newly anointed nominee, his vice presidential pick Mike Pence Michael (Mike) Richard PenceMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election MORE, and their families — flew across the sky just as Cruz mentioned his former foe. The jeers continued as many in the crowd pointed to the plane emblazoned with the name of their party's nominee.

Cruz couldn't help but chuckle.

"That was pretty well orchestrated. Jeff, did you email them to fly the plane right when I said that?" Cruz called out to Roe, his former campaign manager.

While the crowd made their feelings clear about Trump, Cruz didn't offer any signal as to whether he'd endorse later Wednesday. But another Cruz presidential run was certainly on the minds of his supporters, who repeatedly chanted "2020.”

"I don't know what the future is going to hold. I don't know what will happen, but what I do know is my unshakable faith in the men and women here," Cruz said.

"Every one of us has an obligation to follow our conscience, to speak the truth and truth is unchanging, to defend liberty.”

Speaking to reporters before Cruz’s rally, Roe previewed his boss’s address, calling it forward-looking and optimistic. In his speech, Cruz won’t need to respond to the news of the day — he’ll be able to take a step back and “share his view of the world and his view of the body politic, and where we need to go as a country,” Roe said.

“It's a great opportunity and a huge opportunity for him, and a very nice gesture from the Trump campaign."

And would Cruz use his speech to help skeptical conservatives come to terms with Trump’s campaign?

"No, I don't think there will be a leather couch on the stage for anybody to lay down on,” Roe joked. “He's going to talk about the reason why he's on politics, he's going to talk about what he sees for the future of the party, the future of the country.”

For weeks, Cruz ally Ken Cuccinelli has been leading the charge to overhaul party rules to presumably boost Cruz in 2020. Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general, wants to close primaries and decentralize Republican National Committee power, among other changes, but both he and Cruz’s team have publicly said they are not working in coordination.

There was no love lost between Trump and Cruz by the end of the bitter primary race. In addition to attacking Cruz’s father, Trump had raised doubts about the Canada-born Cruz’s eligibility to run for president. Trump repeatedly mocked Cruz on the campaign trail as “Lyin’ Ted.” And on Twitter, Trump attacked the physical appearance of Cruz’s wife, Heidi.

Cruz responded in kind, blasting Trump as a “sniveling coward.”

Despite their fierce rivalry, the Trump and Cruz camps have been in communication all week here in Cleveland. Trump, who was formally nominated by state delegates on Tuesday, spoke with Cruz by phone that same day, and Roe’s gaggle with reporters Wednesday was briefly interrupted by a phone call from Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager.

“I think you'll see at the end of the speech tonight that Senator Cruz will be part of the campaign going forward. In what capacity, I'm not certain,” Manafort said on CNN Wednesday morning.

“His words will no doubt [suggest] he wants Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States.”