By: Tunji Okunlola
The White House has asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, to resign following press reports that she sought money from a political supporter of President Donald Trump and accepted costly hospitality from wealthy Greek businessmen.
Press secretary Katie Zacharia confirmed the request at her first White House briefing on Tuesday. “We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign,” she told reporters, according to AFP.
The move followed comments from Trump a day earlier, when he said he was weighing whether to remove her. Speaking to reporters after the announcement, he said Guilfoyle “was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading”. He added that he had not spoken to her and that “she will not be there”.
Guilfoyle denies the claims
Guilfoyle responded on X, calling the allegations false. “These allegations are false, and I intend to defend my name, my reputation and my integrity vigorously,” she wrote.
She pointed to her work on US energy exports and security cooperation with Greece. She thanked Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reaffirmed her loyalty to the president, and acknowledged that her tenure “may be coming to an end.”
What The Wall Street Journal reported
The allegations come from a series of reports in The Wall Street Journal. According to the paper, Guilfoyle messaged Eric Deters, a Trump backer, shortly before her Senate confirmation hearing in July 2025, asking him to clear $100,000 of her credit card debt. The Journal published screenshots in which she allegedly told him: “Honey, please I need you to get this done for me today.”
Deters told the paper he declined, saying that paying the debt would have cost him his marriage. Guilfoyle’s lawyer has disputed that the messages are authentic and denied any wrongdoing.
The Journal also reported, citing messages, emails and recorded conversations, that Greek business figures paid for her travel and stays. It said she flew to the World Economic Forum in Davos on a private jet with Alexandros Exarchou, chief executive of the Greek construction firm Aktor Group. It also said she spent Christmas in the Swiss resort of Gstaad with shipping magnate Nikolas Tsakos, who allegedly paid for a Paris hotel stay during another trip.
US media have reported that the State Department’s inspector general is examining whether Guilfoyle accepted improper gifts.
Background
The reports surfaced while Rubio was on a European tour that included Athens last week. He declined to comment on the allegations there.
Guilfoyle, a former prosecutor and Fox News host, is a prominent figure in the MAGA movement. She was appointed ambassador after her engagement to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, ended. She was previously married to California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat.
With reporting from AFP and The Wall Street Journal.
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