WASHINGTON — Kimberly Guilfoyle stepped down as U.S. ambassador to Greece on Tuesday after the Trump administration requested her resignation amid mounting accusations that she used her diplomatic post for personal financial gain.
White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia announced the departure during her first press briefing Tuesday, stating that Guilfoyle had been asked to step down. Zacharia did not elaborate from the podium on the specifics of the administration’s decision, describing Guilfoyle as having been “a wonderful asset to the team” and wishing her well, according to the BBC.
Guilfoyle confirmed her departure on social media roughly two hours later, strongly denying any improper behavior. “These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity,” she wrote on X, adding that she would “not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service,” as reported by PBS News and Rolling Stone.
Scrutiny over donor solicitations
Guilfoyle’s resignation follows a series of reports by The Wall Street Journal detailing alleged ethical breaches before and during her diplomatic tenure. The newspaper reported that Guilfoyle solicited $100,000 from political donor Eric Deters to pay down an American Express credit card balance shortly before her Senate confirmation hearings in July 2025.
According to documents and text messages reviewed by the Journal and the BBC, Guilfoyle suggested the money could be transferred without detection. “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express,” she wrote in one Signal message, later adding, “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.” In exchange, she reportedly promised Deters access to administration figures, as well as up to $1 million in legal relief and tax aid, Rolling Stone reported. When Deters declined to provide the money, Guilfoyle urged him to “stop papering all these things” over text.
Reporting by the Journal also revealed that Guilfoyle frequently traveled with lobbyist Christos Marafatsos, who represented Greek construction company Aktor Group, and promoted the firm to foreign contacts. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, she allegedly boasted to an American businessman about private jet access and relationships with wealthy Greek executives while seeking entry to a private dinner hosted by Eric Trump.
The White House reacts
President Donald Trump distanced himself from Guilfoyle as he departed the White House on Tuesday. Asked about his past ties to Guilfoyle, who was previously engaged to Donald Trump Jr. before the pair split in late 2024, the president rejected the notion that she was close to his inner circle.
“No, she wasn’t a member of my family,” Trump told ABC News, according to RadarOnline. “She, I guess, dated my son a long time ago. But she went to Greece; she was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading.”
Vice President JD Vance also criticized the alleged conduct in a separate interview, saying he did not “like anybody selling access to another government official, certainly a high-level government official,” Rolling Stone reported.
Guilfoyle, 57, worked as a prosecutor in San Francisco and Los Angeles and co-hosted Fox News program “The Five” until 2018. She was married to current California Gov. Gavin Newsom from 2001 to 2006. Trump nominated her to the Athens post in December 2024, and the Senate confirmed her appointment in September 2025.
Congressional scrutiny into Guilfoyle’s tenure may continue despite her resignation. PBS News reported that the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter instructing Guilfoyle to preserve all records tied to the allegations, signaling that lawmakers plan to investigate the matter.
