Donald Trump was insistent that he appoint the ‘Money Honey’ he watched on TV to become his vice president, but then his senior aides rushed to talk him out of the plan, a new book claims.
Veteran business journalist and Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, 57, was almost selected as Trump’s running mate instead of J.D. Vance, the fresh account claims.
Known for her sourcing across Wall Street, and from her days as CNBC’s New York Stock Exchange floor reporter, where she was known by the sweet moniker ‘Money Honey,’ Trump thought Bartiromo would be a great VP, Politico’s Alex Isenstadt writes in his upcoming book Revenge, CNN first reported.
Trump was ‘seriously considering’ the Fox host who he for years has been complimentary of.
According to the book, Trump ‘was dead serious about Bartiromo and was making the case for her during the flight to Butler (Pennsylvania), before the first attempt on his life.
‘She was great with the big-donor Wall Street types and she knew how to do TV, Trump told his team.’
But the president-elect’s staff fretted because there, ‘was no time to vet Bartiromo, as they had spent months doing with other candidates,’ the book says.
This consideration as late as mid-July was tanked by his devoted incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who he has nicknamed the ‘Ice Maiden.’
She, reportedly, ended the conversation, and of course, J.D. Vance was eventually chosen.
Maria Bartiromo with Donald Trump in a photo posted Feb. 1, 2024 and captioned: ‘I just left @realdonaldtrump I can tell you for sure he is so tough and so determined…’
Still, Bartiromo was a ‘Trump favorite,’ the book claims.
The pair have enjoyed dinners at Mar-a-Lago and Bartiromo has been a staunch defender of his policies on air.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s incoming White House communications director, said that Vance was the ‘perfect’ choice for running mate in the dominant 2024 election victory.
‘Vice President-elect Vance was the perfect choice to be President Trump’s running mate,’ Cheung said in a statement.
‘There is nobody who is a better and stronger defender of the America First agenda, and he will continue to be a leader of the movement for years to come.’
Maria Bartiromo and husband Jonathan Steinberg with Donald and Melania Trump in a photo posted Dec. 1, 2024 and captioned: 50 days until #inaugurationday & so honored to see @realdonaldtrump & @melaniatrump
CNBC reporter Maria Bartiromo delivers her last report from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, shortly after the opening bell, Friday May 14, 2004
According to the book, Trump ‘was dead serious about Bartiromo and was making the case for her during the flight to Butler ( Pennsylvani a), before the first attempt on his life
J.D. Vance was, of course, the successful choice to be running mate and helped propel Trump to victory in the general election
The Revenge excerpts also claim that a Fox News employee also shared questions with Trump before a town hall with Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum in January.
‘About thirty minutes before the town hall was due to start, a senior aide started getting text messages from a person on the inside at Fox,’ Isenstadt writes.
‘Holy s***, the team thought. They were images of all the questions Trump would be asked and the planned follow-ups, down to the exact wording. Jackpot. This was like a student getting a peek at the test before the exam started.’
Trump, according to the book, was supposedly unhappy with the questions. He considered them ‘attacks designed to put him on the defensive.’
Fox News insisted in a statement they had no evidence this had occurred, but have launched an investigation.
