Kimberly Guilfoyle steps down as US ambassador to Greece after alleged misconduct
The Guardian · L · trust 59/100
Kimberly Guilfoyle and Marco Rubio in Athens, Greece, on 7 October 2026. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters View image in fullscreen Kimberly Guilfoyle and Marco Rubio in Athens, Greece, on 7 October 2026. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters Trump administration Kimberly Guilfoyle steps down as US ambassador to Greece after alleged misconduct White House asked Guilfoyle, who is alleged to have sought a bill payment from a Trump donor, to resign from post
Prefer the Guardian on Google Kimberly Guilfoyle is stepping down as US ambassador to Greece after weeks of reports that she sought payment from a Trump donor in exchange for access to administration officials.
The decision, announced by the White House on Tuesday morning, ends the diplomatic career of one of Donald Trump’s longest-standing political allies. It came after the US president and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, were reported to have grown furious over the allegations.
“We have asked Ambassador Guilfyole to resign, she has been a wonderful asset to the team and we wish her well,” said Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, during her first briefing on Tuesday.
Guilfoyle – the former fiancee of Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr – later confirmed her departure from the post, which she described as the “honor of a lifetime”, and denied what she described as “false” allegations.
Pledging to “vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity” in a post on social media, she wrote: “While my time as Ambassador may be coming to an end, my commitment to President Trump, the America First movement, and the country I love will never end.”
The most serious claim, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on 8 October, centers on the donor Eric Deters.
Citing Signal messages, the paper reported that in July 2025, days before her Senate confirmation hearing, Guilfoyle pressed Deters to pay off a $100,000 American Express bill, assuring him the transfer would not show up anywhere. “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today,” she wrote, according to the report.
Guilfoyle offered to use her influence on his tax and legal problems in return and told him she had contacted the IRS commissioner and the justice department on his behalf.
He has also said he paid Guilfoyle about $300,000 over the years without receiving “one favor”, and told MS Now the request “absolutely was a quid pro quo”.
Guilfoyle also expressed concern about the exchanges becoming public, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Eric, I really wish you would stop papering all these things,” she wrote in one message. In another, she told him: “What a nightmare you’ll literally cost me my ambassadorship stop writing.” She urged him to call her on Signal instead.
The Journal has also reported that Guilfoyle accepted improper gifts and services, made an alleged threat to a host-country official, and promoted the interests of a Greek company, Aktor, during official engagements. A lawyer for Guilfoyle, Jesse Binnall, said she disputes the authenticity of the messages.
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Guilfoyle, 57, a former San Francisco prosecutor who was married until 2006 to Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, became a fixture of Trump’s political orbit after leaving Fox News in 2018 as she began dating Trump Jr. The couple became engaged in late 2020, and she was a prominent speaker at Trump’s campaign events, including the 2024 Republican national convention, before breaking up soon after in September 2024.
Trump, as president-elect, then named her for the Athens post in December 2024, weeks after his election win, calling her “a close friend and ally”. That month, Trump Jr had been photographed holding hands with Bettina Anderson, a Palm Beach socialite, and Guilfoyle was absent from the family’s post-election portrait, which did include Trump Jr’s ex-wife and their children. Trump Jr married Anderson in May.
The nomination stalled for months in the Senate until Republicans used the “nuclear option” in September 2025 to overcome a Democratic filibuster and confirm her by simple majority. She was sworn in as the first woman to represent the US in Greece, succeeding the Biden appointee George Tsunis, and arrived in Athens in late October 2025.
It ends a tenure that lasted less than a year.
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