Fox News threw in with CNN the moment Trump pulled their White House credentials.
Now one of Trump's top advisers is asking out loud why the administration keeps feeding Fox talent at all.
His answer explains something Fox has been hoping its own audience never figures out.
Peter Navarro Calls Fox News a Threat to MAGA on Bannon's War Room
Trump's senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro appeared on Steve Bannon's War Room on Real America's Voice and dropped a question that stopped the segment cold.
"Why are we feeding them talent anymore?" Navarro said about Fox News. "Why do we let anybody in this administration go on their network?"
Bannon pressed for clarification – asking whether Navarro was actually calling for the Trump administration to cut off Fox News entirely.
"I'm calling for that question to be seriously asked," Navarro answered. "Fox has revealed itself to be essentially undermining the Trump administration."
He wasn't done.
"They are unchained right now," Navarro continued. "Fox News is much more dangerous to MAGA, much more dangerous to the Republican Party, because they wear our colors when they're, in fact, helping the other side undermine the president."
Wearing your colors while stabbing you in the back – that's the accusation Navarro is leveling at the network millions of conservatives still trust by default.
https://twitter.com/Bannons_WarRoom/status/2102772150805438498
What Fox Told Anchors to Do after Maria Bartiromo Was Fired
Maria Bartiromo was fired September 3 after 12-plus years at the network – and the reason Fox handed down was as thin as it gets.
"This was a business decision," a Fox spokesperson told reporters.
What actually happened, according to multiple reports: Fox management issued written instructions to senior employees telling them to steer clear of Trump's July primetime address – specifically, his claims about Chinese interference in the 2020 election. Bartiromo had Navarro booked for the morning after that speech. Fox shut the appearance down.
Then Bartiromo did something Fox could not ignore.
She forwarded the internal directive – a text from Fox Business senior VP of programming Ralph Giordano that read, "We don't want to promote it or push to the speech at all. We don't want to do 2020 election segments at all Thurs or Friday" – directly to White House officials.
Fox found out from a phone call from the White House. Bartiromo was gone within days.
Trump called her a "total professional and a true warrior" on Truth Social. Bartiromo's attorney denied she was fired. Fox said nothing further.
How the Dominion Settlement Turned Fox News against Its Own Audience
This is not the first time Fox has purged its most pro-Trump voices when legal exposure made them inconvenient.
Lou Dobbs – gone in February 2021, the day after Smartmatic named Fox in a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit. His show was canceled with no farewell and no explanation.
Tucker Carlson – gone in April 2023, one week after Fox settled the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million. Carlson was the most-watched host on cable news. Fox walked him out the door anyway and refused to let him say goodbye on air.
Now Bartiromo – fired the moment Fox management discovered she had shared their internal censorship directive with the people they were censoring.
Three of the most vocal pro-Trump voices in cable news. Fox management removed all three and told viewers the same thing each time: it was just a business decision.
Why Peter Navarro Says the White House Should Cut Fox Off Entirely
Navarro has pressed the same case in multiple opinion pieces in The Washington Times – and separately praised Real America's Voice as the network ready to replace Fox in the White House press pool.
Fox paid $787.5 million to Dominion. Now every time Trump makes an election claim, Fox lawyers start sweating.
Bartiromo found that out the hard way. So did Lou Dobb and Tucker Carlson. The network that calls itself fair and balance has booted the biggest MAGA voices in its lineup.
The administration keeps feeding Fox talent anyway. Melania Trump appeared on multiple Fox programs the same day Navarro made his boycott call.
That is the contradiction Navarro is forcing into the open. Fox puts on the MAGA jersey every morning at 6 a.m. and takes it off the moment a lawyer calls. The audience watching from home has no idea the switch happened – because Fox never tells them.
Real America's Voice exists. Newsmax exists. The viewers Navarro is describing don't have to keep funding a network that decided three years ago that their loyalty was worth less than a Dominion settlement.
Sources:
- Kathryn Wilkens, "Trump Official Suggests Administration Boycott Fox News for 'Helping the Other Side Undermine the President,'" Mediaite, September 23, 2026.
- Peter Navarro, "The Muzzling of Maria Bartiromo by Fox News Should Be a Wake-Up Call," The Washington Times, September 2026.
- "Trump Trade Adviser Navarro Blasts Fox for Bartiromo Ouster: Not 'Friendly to MAGA,'" The Washington Times/National Desk, September 2026.