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U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle may soon be fired amid reports she sought a six-figure credit card bailout from a Trump donor while offering access to administration officials, adding to mounting allegations over her conduct in Athens.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are "extremely pissed off" by Guilfoyle's reported conduct and are weighing her removal, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing a senior U.S. official.
The official told the AP that a decision on what action to take would likely come this week after Monday's Columbus Day holiday. No departure has been confirmed.
Guilfoyle, onetime fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., came under scrutiny this week after The Wall Street Journal reported that she asked Trump donor Eric Deters to pay off a $100,000 American Express bill shortly before her Senate confirmation hearing.
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According to messages reviewed by the Journal, Guilfoyle urged Deters to wire the money directly to American Express, saying the transaction would not leave a paper trail, while offering to help him gain access to senior Trump administration officials. Deters said he never made the payment.
Guilfoyle's attorneys, Jesse Binnall and David M. Schwartz, rejected Deters' allegations in a statement, describing the dispute as an effort to collect approximately $150,000 they said he still owes for speeches and consulting work performed before she entered government service.
"That is what Mr. Deters now calls a 'quid pro quo': a delinquent client being asked to pay an overdue bill," the attorneys said. They also said Guilfoyle refused his offer of $1 million to promote his private litigation and bring it to administration officials' attention.
The attorneys disputed reports concerning Guilfoyle's travel, saying she sought and followed State Department guidance before using private aircraft and complied with applicable ethics, gift and reporting requirements.
"Ambassador Guilfoyle has served, and will continue to serve, with integrity, honor and distinction," they said, adding that they are evaluating legal options to collect the alleged debt.
The allegations followed an earlier Journal investigation into Guilfoyle's conduct in Greece, including claims that she promoted the interests of Greek construction and energy company Aktor Group and allowed its registered lobbyist, Christos Marafatsos, to accompany her to private diplomatic meetings with senior officials.
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The Journal also reported that Guilfoyle suggested at a dinner with Greek officials that the U.S. would undermine their government, citing political developments in Romania. Greece's foreign minister has since said there was no need to summon Guilfoyle for an explanation because the country's energy minister denied that any threat had been made.
Separately, the State Department's Office of Inspector General opened an investigation into allegations involving Guilfoyle's treatment of embassy employees, private travel, acceptance of gifts and relationships with business interests, according to a report from the Daily Mail.
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Sources described a hostile workplace in which Guilfoyle allegedly threatened to fire employees. They also claim that she demoted members of her security detail over minor incidents, including an officer who reportedly failed to answer a 4 a.m. request for ice while she was vacationing in Mykonos.
The inspector general's office declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. Binnall told the Daily Mail that "any implication of wrongdoing by the Ambassador is unsupported."
The allegations have drawn scrutiny from congressional Democrats, including Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who have called for a review of Guilfoyle's conduct. Meeks urged her removal if the allegations were substantiated.
Vice President JD Vance addressed the controversy Friday, cautioning against rushing to judgment while acknowledging that misconduct should carry consequences.
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"Let's actually see what the facts are. Let's see what the truth is," Vance told reporters in Ohio. "And obviously, if there was something bad that happened, then people have to suffer consequences for it."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who visited Greece this week and delivered remarks with the backdrop of Acropolis, declined to address the allegations directly.
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"You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it's the gospel. It's not the gospel," Rubio told reporters Thursday.
Rubio had defended Guilfoyle's performance a day earlier, saying, "Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here."
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Trump nominated Guilfoyle to the diplomatic post in December 2024. A former California prosecutor and Fox News Channel personality, she previously served as a prominent surrogate and fundraiser for the president.
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Guilfoyle was almost Trump's daughter-in-law. She was engaged to Don Jr. for four years, but the two publicly split in Dec. 2024 - the same month the president nominated her to be the ambassador to Greece.
The president's eldest son married Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in May of this year.
She was also previously married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, from 2001 to 2006, when he served as mayor of San Francisco.
