Even Donald Trump’s top Fox Business cheerleader appeared confused this week as she witnessed the president wrestle with the definition of free-market capitalism.
During an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Maria Bartiromo, 58, openly challenged President Donald Trump over a growing contradiction at the center of his economic agenda: how a president who brands himself a free-market capitalist keeps leaning on government muscle to steer private companies.
Bartiromo began by reminding Trump, 79, of his own words. In a March 2025 interview on Sunday Morning Futures, the president promised an economy where “private enterprise carries the day.” But since then, she noted, his administration has seemingly done the opposite—taking equity stakes in companies and pressuring others on how they use their profits.
“Since then, in the last year, you’ve taken a 10% stake in Intel. You’ve taken the stake in MP Mountain Pass,” Bartiromo said, before delivering the gut punch. “You told the defense companies two weeks ago, don’t pay any dividends, don’t do buybacks until you produce the weapons that we need. So please explain to our audience how is that free market capital?”
The Intel deal she referenced involved the U.S. government acquiring roughly $8.8 billion in equity in the computer chip designer, a move the company framed as supporting “the continued expansion of American technology and manufacturing leadership.”
Trump didn’t deny the intervention in a private company; instead, he reframed it.
“It’s very free market,” he insisted, arguing that defense contractors had been using profits for stock buybacks while simultaneously asking the government for loans.
Stock buybacks occur when a company uses its cash to repurchase its own shares, boosting stock prices and often resulting in substantial profits for the company. Trump said he was blocking buybacks at defense firms until they met U.S. weapons demands.
“When we need tomahawks, I want them within 24 hours,” he said. “I don’t wanna be waiting three years for it. What kind of thing is that?”
Bartiromo continued her line of questioning. “Well, so free market capitalism, unless it’s a national security issue?” she said.
Trump brushed off the contradiction by redefining free markets on the fly and calling allowing companies to engage in stock buybacks a “stupid market.” He argued that because the government bankrolls defense contracts, it has the right to block companies from prioritizing profits over production.
He also suggested that government investment had already paid off. After the U.S. bought stakes in certain firms, Trump said, their stock prices rose, enabling the government to allocate a larger budget to buy more military equipment. A perk that the president said was necessary for keeping America’s military dominant.
The Trump administration’s decisions to put a hand in the private sector don’t end there. Most recently, Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday restricting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. Another controlling move, he argued, would benefit single-family homebuyers.
Bartiromo’s harder line of questioning was not the only challenge Trump faced on his trip abroad. Since touching down in Switzerland earlier this week, the president has been met with signs from protesters telling him to “go home,” received a negative reception from other world leaders during his World Economic Forum speeches, and sported visible bruising on both of his hands.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Bartiromo for comment.
