Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani could be a big force in New York's Republican primary April 19. Giuliani to meet with Ted Cruz

Rudy Giuliani will meet with Ted Cruz, as the Texas senator looks for help staging an upset over Donald Trump in the April 19 New York primary.

A national political operative and Republican operative in New York familiar with the plans had originally said the meeting would be Thursday. But Thursday morning, Cruz’s campaign said that while he’s eager to see the former New York mayor and 2008 presidential candidate, a firm time is still in the air.


“We’ve been working to line up a meeting, but there’s nothing scheduled for today,” said Cruz spokesman Jason Miller.

The meeting could signal a significant shift: Trump had in February said Giuliani was acting as an informal adviser to him, and Giuliani had spoken favorably of him publicly several times, including at an event in Peoria, Illinois, when he alluded to the billionaire developer’s slogan, saying, “I hope you’ll look for a candidate who can set a direction for this country that one, talks about how great they are, a lot.”

But with the New York primary looming April 19, the former New York mayor and 2008 presidential candidate seems to be having second thoughts. He’ll meet with the Texas senator, who’ll need to pull off a significant upset to be able to beat Trump in his home state and to rack up the delegates to force a brokered convention in Cleveland, where he’d hope to come out on top with the nomination.

Giuliani, who’s been out of office since 2001, remains the most prominent force in the Republican establishment in New York, and his endorsement would likely have major sway, were he to make one, and even more so because of the switch it would be: He was one of the first notable Republicans to give a nod of support toward Trump earlier in the race.

Cruz was campaigning Wednesday in the Bronx, where among other things, he was confronted with his attack on Trump during the Iowa caucuses campaign for having “New York values” that made the senator said made him out of step with the national Republican Party.

The people familiar with the meeting didn’t downplay the significance of it for Giuliani’s mindset.