Maria Bartiromo’s Shock Fox News Exit Is Further Proof the Trump Show Is Finally Coming to an End

As the dust settles on Maria Bartiromo’s surprise exit from Fox News this week, one thing is clear: President Donald Trump’s domination of American media is clearly waning.

Not only did Trump lose one of his top allies as Bartiromo lost her massive platform, but Fox also made clear, with its terse statement announcing her exit, that the network does not fear his or MAGA’s wrath. In a media ecosystem largely driven by audience capture, telling the viewer what they want to hear to keep them coming back, Fox removing Bartiromo from the air did just the opposite for diehard Trump supporters.

The all-consuming Trump show has always had an expiration date, and while some may argue about exactly when that might be – after the midterms? Not until he leaves office? Not until the GOP finds a successor? — the curtain is starting to lower.

As the date, whenever it may be, gets nearer, there are ever-growing signs that Americans are simply losing interest in Trump’s never-ending theatrics and that conservative media is taking notice.

Trump’s war in Iran has led to one of the greatest fractionings on the right of his presidency, as once stalwart allies like Tucker Carlson and newer allies like Joe Rogan have become some of his fiercest critics.

Fox News too has been critical of Trump’s war, with anchors like John Roberts explicitly saying he is “puzzled” by Trump’s strategy in the conflict and commentators like Marc Thiessen harshly criticizing Vice President JD Vance’s negotiations with Iran.

In the podcast space, MAGA commentators have seen their views drop in recent months, just as Trump’s poll numbers continue to crater. “Once united in support of President Trump, right-wing influencers are embroiled in feuds and losing viewers, creating a problem for Republicans in the midterm elections,” the New York Times wrote in late July in a deep-dive report on people like Megyn Kelly and Benny Johnson losing viewers en masse.

And this all brings us back to Bartiromo and the circumstances of her exit. While Bartiromo’s powerhouse lawyer, Bryan Freedman, claimed on Friday that reports of her firing were “false,” Fox News made it clear in a very terse statement on Thursday that she was out. Her bio was scrubbed from Fox Business’s website within hours of the announcement, and she was not given an on-air goodbye — having been off the airwaves since August 9th.

Status’s Oliver Darcy quickly reported that a wild behind-the-scenes drama was the reason for her departure. Darcy reported that Bartiromo breached her employment contract by leaking confidential internal guidance about the network’s coverage of Trump to the White House.

The editorial guidance Bartiromo is said to have shared insisted Fox avoid some of Trump’s latest baseless election conspiracy mongering, as the network clearly didn’t want to open itself to more expensive legal issues on the topic. Darcy’s report, which Freedman appeared to refute, shows Fox News punishing one of Trump’s key allies for “betraying” the network to Trump – a clear demarcation between Trump and Fox.

Fox executives must have known that Bartiromo’s exit would anger Trump and lead to the whole episode going public, as a ravenous media would demand to know what was behind the shocking move. As news of Bartiromo’s exit broke, many observers were quick to ask, “Why now and not during the Dominion fallout?” Bartiromo kept her job despite being part of the network’s on-air promotion of Trump’s election conspiracies, which ended up costing the network $787 million. But by keeping Bartiromo on their payroll, Fox also kept many a MAGA viewer happy, a calculus that appears to have changed.

Trump predictably posted his displeasure with Bartiromo’s ouster on social media and warned Fox that her fans “will not be happy.”

Fox News and Trump have always had a somewhat difficult, but symbiotic relationship. Trump has used the network, like he has all conservative media, to get his message out and preach to his MAGA faithful. Fox, like the rest of the media, has used Trump in turn to keep their ratings up, and has benefited from the exclusive access he grants them. But as Trump becomes a lame duck and the GOP looks to who comes next, his draw as a ratings magnet (or as their “golden goose” as he calls it) is sure to only diminish further.

Trump fatigue is real in the news industry and the country as a whole. He’s also about to no longer be the biggest story in town. No doubt as attention on him wanes and his term winds down, Trump will do everything he can to keep eyes on him: staffing shake-ups and legacy-defining moves. But as Fox News just made clear, access to his administration and the need to keep him happy is less of a lucrative commodity today than it was yesterday, and it will continue to diminish in value every day going forward.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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