At one time Donald Trump and Fox News had what seemed like a loving relationship. Fox News hosts misspoke his lies in reverential voices. But now it seems the romance has died, the bloom is off the rose.

Mediaite reports the top-rated cable news network has been putting distance between itself and Trump over the years. In this op-ed, Colby Hall writes this break began clumsily during the 2020 presidential election when some of the network’s more credible hosts decided to push back against Trump’s baseless stolen election claims — but those attempts faltered against the tide of loyalists who shamelessly promoted the former president’s every word.

Now, this relationship has taken another step closer to divorce with the release of the sworn testimony of Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, who admitted some Fox News hosts endorsed the then-president’s stolen election lies. And, of course, Trump is not happy with Murdoch’s testimony and he’s venting heavily on Truth Social.

Trump really took a deep drive off the deep end, accusing Fox News of “aiding & abetting the DESTRUCTION of America,” and demanding the firing of all Fox News anchors who accurately reported that his election claims were false.

But there’s a good chance this isn’t the only reason why Trump is in yell mode.

The former president considered a leading 2024 Republican candidate — hasn’t appeared on Fox News since September, and this has been described as a “soft ban” in reporting.

Mediaite searched transcripts and found that Trump isn’t the only member of his family being ignored by Fox News. Trump family surrogates have been completely absent recently, even on prime-time opinion shows.

His sons, Don Jr. and Eric Trump were once frequent guests on the network over the years on news and opinion shows. Lara Trump was once a paid contributor to the network but then those ties were cut when she became involved with Trump’s 2024 campaign. So Fox News has even given Trump’s family the slip.

But it’s likely this relationship won’t stay glacial forever. Trump has been regularly featured in the network’s programming for a decade, and millions of the network’s viewers are fiercely loyal to the former president. Current polls show the former president is the strong favorite to be the 2024 Republican nominee for president.

He’ll likely return to Fox News at some point, but given the fact that the cable news network is now facing serious damage to its reputation for promoting Trump’s false claims of election fraud, Hall posits that the network would do well to ensure the next interview is conducted by Bret Baier, John Roberts, or Bill Hemmer.

But Trump isn’t likely to be enthusiastic about answering hard questions from news anchors who hope to help the network rebuild a more positive reputation. A network that Hall notes “Trump has practically taunted into covering him in a negative light? It’s hard to envision that happening any time soon. If Trump opts instead for a prime-time ally? Well, that would reveal who has the upper hand between Trump and Fox News.”

The former president is due to speak at CPAC Saturday at 5 p.m. Fox News has pretty much ignored CPAC this year, “but taking his speech live could be a sign the network is trying to thaw tensions,” Hall writes. “To be honest, I expect Fox News to take Trump’s speech live, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, as a result, Trump returns the favor by avoiding attacks on the network.”

Hall notes that while Trump shows up on the network from time to time, he doesn’t necessarily think Fox will warm up to his family members in the near future.

“Fox is still covering Trump. Having him and his family on air to promote his campaign — and its attack on the network — is another thing altogether. I don’t expect to see Trump sit down with Fox News any time soon, but he will eventually return.”

“It’s up to Fox what kind of form that return will take.”

This is a crucial time for Fox News, especially as the Dominion Voting Systems scandal continues to blow up. As I noted earlier, Dominion alleges that Fox defamed the company by spreading false claims about its role in the 2020 election. The company is seeking $1.6 billion.

So this may soon be the time when we find out if Fox News will ever live up to its’ “fair and balanced” slogan. My guess is it will fall short. Trump is unlikely to stop lying just because he’s suddenly allowed back on Fox News. It will be up to the network’s anchors to put his feet to the fire.