Neil Cavuto, a business journalist at Fox News Channel whose weekday afternoon news show frequently annoyed President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters, left the network after 28 years following a final show on Thursday.
A workhorse who had been with Fox since its inception in 1996, Cavuto also hosted programs at Fox's sister, the Fox Business Network, and was not considered one of the stable of opinion hosts.
His final show briskly moved through a succession of news stories, including the potential for a government funding deal, stock market fluctuations and a strike by Amazon workers. He addressed his exit at the end, thanking Fox for his years on the network but saying that “I'm not leaving journalism. I'm just leaving here.”
“I got to do what I love here — report the news, not shout the news, not blast the news,” he said, adding that his goal was to “tell truth to power and fairness to all. That's me.”
He thanked viewers, while noting the ones who wrote to suggest he do things “that I think were anatomically impossible to do.”
Fox said in a statement: “Neil Cavuto's illustrious career has been a master class in journalism and we're extremely proud of his incredible 28-year run with Fox News Media. His programs have defined business news and set the standard for the entire industry. We wish him a heartfelt farewell and all the best on his next chapter.”
Unlike many at Fox, he has not interviewed President-elect Donald Trump since 2017 and sometimes has angered him. One time came when Cavuto said on his show in September that Trump had “decisively lost” his debate with Democrat Kamala Harris.
Cavuto remarked this summer that when the stock market goes up, Trump says it is because of investors looking forward to him being back in power, but when it's down, he blames the Democrats.
On social media Thursday, Trump used all-caps to say Cavuto's departure is “GOOD NEWS FOR AMERICA.” He said it “should have happened a long time ago.”
While Cavuto's exit removes a Trump irritant from Fox just before the president-elect returns to office, that fact had nothing to do with it, said a person at the network with knowledge of the discussions but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about contracts. Cavuto's contract was coming to an end and while he was offered an extension, he decided to leave, the person said. Cavuto confirmed the offer, while not explaining his reasons for exiting.
With the television news business hurting financially, some major personalities have reportedly been asked to take pay cuts. Some, like the “Today” show's Hoda Kotb, decided to leave instead.
Even before Cavuto addressed his exit, each of the guests on his final show saluted him. Reporter Aishah Hasnie called him a hero, and billionaire investor Ken Fisher said, “if you need any help, you will always have a friend in me.”
“You call balls and strikes,” said Bob Cusack, editor in chief of The Hill. “You're not a yes man.”
Cavuto, 66, has stayed on the job despite a number of health issues through the years. He has multiple sclerosis, underwent heart surgery and had bouts of long COVID. One fellow Fox personality, Janice Dean, said on social media that when she was diagnosed with MS, Cavuto “gave me hope that I could still pursue my dreams.”
There's no immediate word on who will replace Cavuto at 4 p.m. Eastern on Fox's schedule, a coveted slot before the network's most popular show, “The Five.”
David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
FILE - Anchor Neil Cavuto appears on the set of his "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" program, on the Fox Business Network, in New York on March 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
It's not just about sending federal law enforcement officers into Minnesota.
President Donald Trump's administration is also lashing out at the state by threatening to withhold billions in federal money, much of it intended to help low-income families with food aid, health care and child care — and with a new lawsuit against the state.
Trump's administration has struck out at Democratic-run states broadly, but it's made a prime example of Minnesota, where the president last month called the state's Somali population “garbage," targeting it with actions not seen elsewhere.
The administration has not spelled out its exact plans in most cases, and it's not clear if some of the money will actually stop flowing — or, if so, when.
Trump's administration has unleashed a wave of threats to halt the flow of some federal funds to other states, too — including federal funds to “sanctuary cities” that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials and their states.
Minnesota has been singled out in some cuts as Trump repeatedly criticizes Gov. Tim Walz over fraud in federal programs. Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee and a high-profile Trump critic, ended his campaign this month for a third term, saying he couldn't run a campaign while fending off the attacks and running the state.
Minnesota is pushing back in courts or otherwise.
Here's a look at the planned freezes in Minnesota.
The Agriculture Department said it’s freezing funding in the state and its largest city, Minneapolis — but without laying out many details. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a social media post Jan. 9 announcing the action: “No more handouts to thieves!”
In a letter to Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, she cited a major fraud case involving a USDA-funded pandemic relief program that broke in 2022 in which 78 people have been charged — and 57 convicted.
Rollins said she was suspending all current and future awards to the city and state and told them to provide payment justifications for all transactions since Jan. 20, 2025, the day Trump returned to office. The justifications would be required to receive future money, too.
Rollins said the awards at risk total more than $129 million but did not specify which programs are included. Her department has not clarified whether the amount includes payments that go to individuals, or just those to government entities.
Based on the figure from Rollins, the freeze would not appear to include funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which helps about 1 in 12 Minnesota residents buy groceries. Minnesota residents received more than $850 million through that program in 2024. Still, a Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families website says the department is analyzing any impacts to SNAP.
It also appears the National School Lunch Program, which provides and subsidizes school meals, is not included. Minnesota was expected to receive more than $240 million in that program in the budget year that ended Sept. 30.
The Agriculture Department also runs programs aimed at food producers, including disaster aid and price supports.
Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson said at a news conference Wednesday that it's not clear exactly which programs might lose funding, but the state has started receiving notices from some pauses, including to a University of Minnesota poultry testing lab. He said that leaves uncertainty about who would pay if avian influenza is found at a farm and birds must be removed.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also told Minnesota last week that it intends to withhold $515 million every three months from 14 Medicaid programs that were deemed high risk after rejecting a corrective action plan the federal government demanded because of fraud allegations.
The programs identified as high risk include adult companion services, residential treatment services and nonemergency medical transportation.
The amount to be withheld is equivalent to one-fourth of the federal money for those programs.
On a call with reporters Tuesday, state Department of Human Services said they were mounting an administrative appeal to the freeze.
They said the department has been emphasizing anti-fraud measures for more than a year and questioned the federal action, which they said is unlike anything they've found in other states.
“Minnesota cannot absorb the loss of more than $2 billion in annual funding for these programs without catastrophic consequences for the people we serve,” Temporary Human Services Commissioner Shireen Gandhi said, adding that the state can’t find other examples of similar federal decisions.
“It's not corrective action,” she said. “It's a punitive action.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Minnesota in late December that it was freezing funds in the child Care and Development Block Grant, which subsidizes child care for low-income families, telling the state that it had to submit attendance records and other information before the money would flow again.
Last week, the Trump administration said it was halting payments of the child care money, along with temporary aid for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which provides job training and cash assistance, and the Social Services Block Grant, which funds a variety of social services, for Minnesota and four other states where Democrats lead the government.
The five states — along with Minnesota, California, Colorado, Illinois and New York — sued. Advocates and officials warned that stopping the childcare subsidy would put many daycare providers at risk of layoffs of closures. And those could put the families of all their clients in binds, not just those who rely on the subsidies.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that the administration cannot block the money for now.
The federal administration on Wednesday unleashed another line of attack on the Minnesota state government.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state government in federal court over its affirmative action hiring requirements. The lawsuit seeks to end programs intended to diversify the government workforce, claiming “Minnesota requires its hiring managers to jump through additional hoops to hire employees with disfavored skin colors or sex chromosomes."
The lawsuit also seeks money for employees and prospective employees who were impacted.
The state attorney general's office said it would respond in court.
A person confronts a U.S. Border Patrol officer Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 at the Coliseum Building in Minneapolis. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP)
President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the Detroit Economic Club at the MotorCity Casino Hotel, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
