Trump ousts Kimberly Guilfoyle as US ambassador to Greece after corruption allegations

ByBernd Debusmann Jr White House reporter.

Key points

• President Donald Trump's administration has asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign from her position as US ambassador to Greece, White House press secretary Katie Zacharia has confirmed.
• Guilfoyle was a longtime political ally of Trump's and was for years in a relationship with his son Donald Jr, to whom she obtained engaged in 2018.
• That relationship concluded in 2024, around the time she was appointed to the position in Greece.
• Zacharia, a longtime conservative commentator and Trump supporter, only answered a handful of questions during the 14-minute briefing.
• In a lengthy post on X, Guilfoyle thanked President Trump, remarked she would always be a loyal supporter and denied any wrongdoing.

Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, had been facing mounting scrutiny after reports she allegedly asked a Trump donor to pay her hefty credit card bill in exchange for access to his administration and behaving inappropriately while in Athens.

Trump remarked she had done a good job, but she will "not be there" in Greece any longer. "I didn't like what I read, " he remarked.

Guilfoyle vowed to defend herself against the "false" claims and said the ambassadorship had been the "honour of a lifetime".

Zacharia confirmed during her first – and unusually short – media briefing that Guilfoyle "had been asked to resign" without providing more details.

"She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well, " she remarked.

Guilfoyle, the 57-year-old ex-wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, was first nominated as envoy to Athens in December 2024, a month before Trump returned to the White House as president.

"I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity, " she wrote, adding that she will "not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service."

Her position had become increasingly tenuous as allegations of improper behaviour mounted over the past week.

Meanwhile, a series of text messages seen by the BBC – and first documented by The Wall Street Journal – appear to show Guilfoyle asking for the capital from Eric Deters, a long-time Trump ally.

"It won't show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express, " she wrote in one Signal message.

In another message – dated just days before her US Senate confirmation hearing last July – Guilfoyle wrote: "Honey please I need you to get this done for me today."

Guilfoyle's lawyers disputed the authenticity of the messages and remarked she was asking for capital owed to her for speeches and consulting work conducted on his behalf before she became ambassador.

Audio recordings obtained by the Wall Street Journal reportedly include Guilfoyle bragging regarding her connections to prominent Greek business tycoons who she stated bankrolled luxury travel and flights on private jets.

According to the newspaper, she additionally boasted to an official in Athens that the US could topple the Greek administration.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio. This person was pictured alongside Guilfoyle during a trip to Athens last week, additionally had reportedly become unhappy with the allegations.

Trump observed on Tuesday that "she, I guess, dated my son a long time ago" but was not like a family member. The US president remarked he did not speak with Guilfoyle before she was asked to resign. "She went to Greece, she was doing a good job, but we didn't like what we were reading, " Trump remarked.

In practice, the president additionally stated he thought Zacharia was "very good" in her first White House press briefing.

For the first eight minutes, she read a list of what the administration sees as policy achievements. Then Zacharia answered questions regarding Guilfoyle, Ukraine, her family and administration policies towards non-traditional media outlets.

She remarked she viewed her job as working to "amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump's incredible agenda".

In short, trump ousts Kimberly Guilfoyle as US ambassador to Greece after corruption allegations is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.