The veteran TV presenter and close ally of Donald Trump has disputed her sudden dismissal, as attention turns to her Wall Street financier husbandLong-time Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo has been abruptly sacked by the network, with the channel saying her firing was “effective immediately” in a September 3 statement.“We thank Maria for her work over the last 12 and a half years and wish her all the best on her next chapter,” the statement read.President Donald Trump has defended high-profile television presenter Maria Bartiromo, one of his staunchest supporters on US airwaves, after Fox News abruptly sacked her. Photo: AFPIn response, Bartiromo’s lawyer Bryan Freedman issued a statement on September 4 denying that she had been fired: “The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false.”“Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses, and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise,” he added.Bartiromo’s ousting came as a shock to many, including US President Donald Trump, who took to Truth Social to write: “I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business.”Bartiromo has long been a vocal supporter of Trump and is considered one of his closest allies in the network. While Fox News did not explain the reasoning behind Bartiromo’s departure, CNN pointed to her close ties with Trump and her alleged “disclosure of confidential information to the Trump White House”.Maria Bartiromo and Donald Trump in 2025. Photo: @mariabartiromo/InstagramThe Maga leader was even said to have considered Bartiromo for vice-president, according to Politico reporter Alex Isenstadt’s book Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, published in 2025. Isenstadt claims Trump was “dead serious” about the then-Fox Business anchor as his running mate at least until the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.Jonathan Steinberg and Maria Bartiromo live in Manhattan. Photo: @mariabartiromo/Instagram“She was great with the big-donor Wall Street types and she knew how to do TV, Trump told his team,” Isenstadt wrote. Ultimately, Trump’s campaign team, led by chief of staff Susie Wiles, decided they had “no time to vet Bartiromo” and picked J.D. Vance instead, according to the book.