President Donald Trump speaking to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo (Photo: Screen capture)
Reporters are rushing to analyze the interview that President Donald Trump did for Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo and they couldn't help but notice that her characterization of what Trump said was factually inaccurate.
To promote her interview, Bartiromo posted a video while leaving the White House.
"I said to him, Mr. President, you keep talking about the war like, was was, was?" she recalled. "I said, is it over? He said, 'it's over, over.'"
CNN columnist Aaron Blake and The Huffington Post's Yashar Ali both caught the discrepancy.
"He did not say that in their interview," Ali wrote in a fact-check on X. "He said it is essentially over, but added, 'we’re not done yet.'"
Trump added, “Close to over" and "I view it as very close to over.”
Trump also told her, “If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild, and we’re not finished… let’s see what happens. They want to make a deal very badly.”
Blake pointed out "subtly one of Trump's craziest ongoing claims about the war." He was referencing Trump's claim that "Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE — countries that were shocked when they got hit. These countries were not expecting to be hit."
In fact, Blake said, "This possibility had been extensively discussed. Iran even commented on it before the war, repeatedly. And [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth has said 'we knew it was a possibility.'"
He posted a laundry list of press outlets like the BBC, Al Jazeera, NPR and Reuters, which talked about it being a possibility. In fact, the section of the BBC report that discusses it begins by saying, "This is highly likely." In January, Al Jazeera reported that the Gulf nations specifically feared strikes on Iran could "trigger an Iranian retaliation on their soil."
CNN's Phil Mattingly also had a fact-check. In the discussion about Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Trump claimed that if he doesn't resign, Powell will be fired.
"Couple points here," Mattingly began, "Trump had maintained he had no knowledge/direct role in the DOJ probe, which, while never believable, he refutes here." The Department of Justice opened an investigation into Powell in late 2025 over the billion-dollar renovation of the Federal Reserve complex, which has been going on for four years. Key projects of the 1930s buildings that haven't been touched since they were built.
According to the FAQ section of the Federal Reserve's website, the complex renovations included asbestos/lead remediation, total system replacements for heating and air, structural reinforcements and significant below-ground expansion. Costs have increased as more toxic materials have been discovered and as tariffs have driven up the prices of construction materials.
Mattingly said that "the insistence on doubling down/escalating on something with such a clear - and near! - off ramp and solution is so bizarrely self-defeating."
Blake also pointed out that Trump claimed he sent a letter to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about China giving weapons to Iran. Trump said that he got a note back from Xi "essentially" denying that they did that. "Bartiromo describes it as 'denying' with no qualifiers," said Blake.