U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz emphatically rejected the idea of being appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court after President Donald Trump teased the possibility, saying Wednesday that he is a “not only a no, but a hell no” on the possibility. 

“And the President knows this,” Cruz, Texas’ junior senator, told Texas Bullpen in a podcast interview. “I’ve told him this in the Oval Office.”

The response came hours after the president floated the idea of nominating Cruz while the two were together at an event touting the new Trump Accounts, investment accounts seeded with $1,000 for newborn Americans.

“If I nominate them to the United States Supreme Court, I will get 100% of the vote,” Trump said. “The Democrats will vote for him because they want to get them the hell out, and the Republicans will vote for him because they want to get him the hell out too.” 

This is not the first time that Cruz, who called himself Trump’s “strongest ally in the Senate” on Wednesday, has been considered by the president as a potential SCOTUS nominee.

Cruz told Texas Bullpen that the two had “serious conversations” about the three high court vacancies during Trump’s first term as president. 

“I told him no three times,” Cruz said. “The reason I’ve said no is that a principled federal judge stays out of policy fights, stays out of political fights… I don’t want to stay out of political fights. I want to be right in the middle of them.”

Cruz, who has served in the Senate since 2013, has become increasingly influential in the GOP-led upper chamber. Last year, he was tapped to serve as chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He also formerly served as the ranking member of the Commerce Committee. 

After an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2016, Cruz left the door open on Wednesday to another future bid for the White House. 

“Time will tell,” he said.