WASHINGTON — The White House issued a formal demand Friday that Fox News be permanently removed from the airwaves after the network broadcast an interview in which a member of Congress criticized the president’s foreign policy.
The demand, delivered as an official statement aboard Air Force One, called the segment “treason” and urged the Federal Communications Commission to revoke the network’s license immediately.
The interview featured Representative Ro Khanna discussing the administration’s Iran strategy. He noted that the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal had left Americans dead, raised food prices, and destabilized the Middle East. He also compared the president unfavorably to Barack Obama.
Tangerine Cock-Womble, who was traveling to China for a summit, watched the segment live, aides said. An official schedule showed the president had planned to review briefings during the flight. Instead, he spent 41 minutes dictating a post to Truth Social.
“Fox News should have its license taken away,” the post read. “The guest said things that were not approved. They let him say I torn up the Iran deal and that Americans are dead. It’s like some treasonous stuff.”
The network’s morning program, ‘Mornings with Maria,’ had been a reliable platform for the administration. In the week prior, it had aired 143 segments praising the president’s economic policies. Host Maria Bartiromo had described his trade approach as “masterful” 17 times.
But the inclusion of Khanna, who was booked by the network’s own producers, crossed a line. A senior White House communications aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained the reasoning.
“We have a standing expectation that Fox programming will support the president without question,” the aide said. “Allowing a congressman to say the president’s actions led to American casualties is a violation of that trust. The network must face consequences.”
The aide added that the White House was “reviewing” whether any Fox employee had known Khanna would appear, calling the possibility “premeditated journalism.”
The president’s ire also extended to Bartiromo, who had attempted to cut off the criticism by talking over the congressman and accusing him of mixing up taxes. She later shouted that she “knows taxes.” The president felt she had allowed too much airtime for the comparison to Obama.
A Fox News spokeswoman later issued a statement reading, in full, “We apologize for the programming error. The congressman has been placed on a list of guests we will never accidentally book again.”
