The White House has forced out the United States ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, after a run of reports alleging that she sought money and favours from businessmen in return for access to the Trump administration.
Guilfoyle announced her resignation on October 13, shortly after the new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, used her first briefing to confirm the decision. “We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign,” Zacharia said.
A former Fox News presenter once engaged to President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Guilfoyle was confirmed by the Senate in September 2025 and had held the post for less than a year.
The case against her was built on reporting by The Wall Street Journal. The paper said on October 8 that Guilfoyle had asked Eric Deters, a Republican donor, to settle a $100,000 (€89,200) American Express bill before her confirmation hearing, in return for access to administration officials.
Deters did not pay and later told American broadcasters he had understood the request as a quid pro quo. Guilfoyle’s lawyers said the sum was owed for consultancy work carried out before she took office.
Later reporting described audio recorded in Davos in January, in which the ambassador discussed private jet travel and hotel stays paid for by two Greek businessmen, Aktor Group chief executive Alexandros Exarchou and the shipowner Nikolas Tsakos.
For European capitals, that is the awkward part. Guilfoyle urged governments from Bulgaria to Albania to deal with Exarchou’s company and to buy American natural gas from it, according to the same reporting, at a time when Washington is already leaning on the European Union over energy supplies.
Guilfoyle has denied any wrongdoing, describing the allegations as “false” and saying she would defend her reputation. The US embassy in Athens said she had followed State Department ethics and gift reporting guidelines.
Trump distanced himself from his former ally the day before the resignation, telling reporters that he was not happy about the reports and that Guilfoyle was not a member of his family.
The departure does not close the matter. The State Department’s inspector general is examining whether she accepted gifts or favours from private businessmen, and Democrats on the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee want her to testify.
Committee members had already asked the department about reports that Guilfoyle told private audiences Washington could bring about political change in European countries. She was at the side of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Athens on October 7, when he led the American delegation at the sixth round of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue. No successor has been named.
