Kimberly Guilfoyle's tenure as ambassador to Greece came to an end at the direction of President Donald Trump, White House press secretary Katie Zacharia confirmed during her opening press briefing, adding that Guilfoyle had contributed positively to the administration and that the team extended its best wishes to her going forward.
The Wall Street Journal reported allegations spanning two distinct periods — conduct attributed to Guilfoyle before she took up the ambassador post and conduct during her time serving in Athens. Legal representatives put forward a denial of any wrongdoing, maintaining that the contested payment request traced back to outstanding fees owed for prior public appearances and speaking commitments, with no connection to any diplomatic role.
Among the allegations put forward is one involving Eric Deters, a businessman who has donated to and voiced backing for Donald Trump, and who has stated that Guilfoyle approached him with a request to cover a $100,000 American Express bill in the period leading up to her Senate confirmation hearing in July 2025. Text messages that Deters passed along to news outlets show Guilfoyle pressing him to send the payment straight to the credit card company. The message described a plan to move the money directly through American Express as a way of keeping the transfer out of any auditable paper trail.
According to the account Deters put forward, Guilfoyle proposed arranging his access to high-ranking Trump administration figures in exchange for the money. Deters characterised the arrangement as an exchange of mutual benefit. In an interview with a broadcast outlet he described as reputable, he stated that she had conveyed to him an openness to fulfilling nearly any request he might bring forward within the administration. Those communications, according to accounts at the time, took place in the days leading up to her confirmation hearing on July 9, 2025. Deters maintained that the funds were never transferred by him.
Her legal team pushed back on the claims, contending that the funds in question represented compensation for speaking engagements and public appearances arranged before her nomination was announced.
A report indicated that the dispute led the State Department's Office of Inspector General to open a review covering both Guilfoyle and the US embassy in Greece. The Wall Street Journal, in a separate report, attributed to Guilfoyle remarks made to attendees at a reception, in which she reportedly stated that the United States held the capacity to destabilise the Greek government at its discretion.
Questions about her ties to Greek business circles were among the findings documented in the report. Allegations against her centred on favouring the interests of a specific Greek construction and energy firm, along with permitting that company's lobbyist to sit in on confidential diplomatic discussions. Scrutiny has fallen on whether commercial entities with private interests were able to exploit diplomatic channels in ways that went beyond what would normally be permitted. Those details, viewed in isolation, stop well short of establishing that Guilfoyle violated any law or diplomatic protocol.
Questions about whether Guilfoyle received gifts, services, and luxury travel from business figures have drawn attention alongside the broader inquiry. Coverage in the Wall Street Journal detailed how Guilfoyle pursued an invitation to a Greek-themed gathering that had been put together on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, at some point earlier in the year. Guilfoyle's remarks, as captured in the reporting, touched on trips taken to France alongside executives from the energy sector. Questions about whether a sitting ambassador should collect payments from private commercial sources have taken shape as part of the broader allegations.
Accounts from multiple sources have pointed to friction between Guilfoyle and embassy personnel in Athens over how she managed and conducted herself in the role. An inquiry by the State Department's internal watchdog is looking into questions surrounding Guilfoyle and the embassy, though no official public statement from the department has addressed the specifics of what is being reviewed.
Their relationship having run its course by 2024, Don Jr. went on to wed Bettina Anderson the following May in 2026. Guilfoyle, who built a career as a television host, was at one point married to Gavin Newsom during his time as California's governor.
