Trump seriously considered TV news host as his vice president before his team revealed a problem, book claims

Donald Trump insisted he nominate the ‘Money Honey’ he watched on TV to become his vice president, but then his top advisers were quick 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 over JD Vance, the new account claims.

Known for her shopping on Wall Street, and for her days as a CNBC reporter at the New York Stock Exchange, where she was known by the sweet nickname ‘Money Honey,’ Trump thought Bartiromo would make a great vice president, writes Alex Isenstadt from Politico in its next report. book RevengeCNN first reported.

Trump was “seriously considering” the Fox host, whom he has praised for years.

According to the book, Trump “was very serious about Bartiromo and was defending him during the flight to Butler, Pennsylvania, before the first attempt on his life.”

“She was great with big Wall Street donors and knew how to make television,” Trump told his team.

But the president-elect’s staff became concerned because “there was no time to vet Bartiromo, as they had spent months doing with other candidates,” the book says.

This consideration was shot down in mid-July by his devoted incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, whom he has nicknamed the ‘Ice Maiden’.

She reportedly ended the conversation and, of course, JD Vance was ultimately chosen.

Maria Bartiromo with Donald Trump in a photo published on February 1, 2024 and with the caption: “I just left @realdonaldtrump. I can assure you that he is so tough and so determined…”

Still, Bartiromo was “Trump’s favorite,” the book claims.

The couple has enjoyed dinners at Mar-a-Lago and Bartiromo has been a strong supporter of their on-air policies.

Steven Cheung, Trump’s incoming White House communications director, said Vance was the “perfect” choice as his 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 no one who is a better, stronger advocate for the America First agenda, and will continue to be a leader of the movement for years to come.”

Maria Bartiromo and her husband Jonathan Steinberg with Donald and Melania Trump in a photo posted December 1, 2024 and captioned: 50 days until #inaugurationday and honored to see @realdonaldtrump and @melaniatrump

CNBC reporter Maria Bartiromo delivers her final report from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell on Friday, May 14, 2004.

According to the book, Trump “was very serious about Bartiromo and was defending him during the flight to Butler, Pennsylvania, before the first attempt on his life.”

JD Vance was, of course, the successful choice for 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 began, a senior official began receiving text messages from someone inside Fox,” Isenstadt writes.

‘Shit,’ the team thought. They were images of all the questions that would be asked of Trump and the expected answers, down to the exact wording. Boat. It was like a student taking a look at the exam before it 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 that they had no evidence that this had happened, but they launched an investigation.