A growing political storm has placed US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle in the national spotlight, as President Donald Trump confirms his administration is reviewing her conduct and weighing a potential dismissal following explosive allegations of improper behavior that Guilfoyle and her legal team have vigorously denied.
When pressed by reporters at the White House last week, Trump acknowledged the ongoing review, saying, “We’re looking at it. Yeah, we’re not happy.” The 57-year-old envoy, who once was engaged to Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., has faced mounting scrutiny since the Wall Street Journal first published reports detailing claims she solicited payment from a top Trump donor in exchange for access to the presidential administration, tied to a large outstanding credit card balance.
The allegations center on Eric Deters, a long-time Trump ally, who was the recipient of a series of messages from Guilfoyle first reviewed by the Journal and later verified by the BBC. According to copies of the Signal messages, Guilfoyle wrote that wiring the payment directly to American Express would leave no public paper trail. Dated just days before Guilfoyle’s US Senate confirmation hearing last July, one urgent message read: “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.” Deters ultimately never transferred the requested funds.
Guilfoyle’s legal team has pushed back aggressively against the claims, disputing the authenticity of the messages and offering a full alternative explanation. In a two-page statement released October 12, the lawyers noted that the $150,000 Guilfoyle requested was payment for speaking engagements and consulting work she completed for Deters years before she took the ambassadorship. “Asking a client to pay for work already done is not corruption. It is the opposite of corruption,” the statement read.
Additional reporting from the Journal has added further layers to the controversy, citing audio recordings that allegedly capture Guilfoyle boasting about her close connections to powerful Greek business magnates who she says have covered the cost of luxury travel and private jet trips for her. The recordings also reportedly include a startling comment to a local Greek official, where Guilfoyle claimed the United States had the power to overthrow the current Greek government.
Guilfoyle’s path to the ambassadorship has been closely tied to her long-standing connections to the Trump political circle. A former prosecutor in California and a Fox News host from 2006 to 2018, she left broadcasting to join Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, and began her relationship with Donald Trump Jr. the same year. The pair became engaged, but ended their relationship in 2024, shortly before Guilfoyle was appointed to the Athens post in December 2024 – one month before Trump’s second inauguration. At the time of her appointment, Trump praised her qualifications, saying, “her extensive experience and leadership in law, media and politics, along with her sharp intellect make her supremely qualified” to represent the US abroad. Guilfoyle is also the ex-wife of current California Governor Gavin Newsom, adding another high-profile political dimension to the controversy.
Top Democratic lawmakers on both the Senate and House foreign affairs committees have already called on the US State Department to launch a formal investigation into Guilfoyle’s conduct in Athens. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with Guilfoyle during his own visit to Greece last week, has also been reported to share the administration’s dissatisfaction with her performance amid the allegations.