Kimberly Guilfoyle could soon lose her job as U.S. ambassador to Greece, with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighing whether to fire her after a string of reports accusing her of improper and possibly illegal conduct.
A senior U.S. official told the Associated Press on Sunday that Trump and Rubio are furious about Guilfoyle’s reported behavior and will likely decide what to do this week, after Monday’s Columbus Day holiday.
An ambassador is the top U.S. representative in another country, the person who speaks for the American government there and works with that country’s leaders. Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host who was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr. and previously married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, was one of the first ambassadors Trump named for his second term.
The most serious allegation involves money. The Wall Street Journal reported, and the New York Times confirmed, that Republican donor Eric Deters says Guilfoyle asked him to wire $100,000 to pay off her American Express bill just before her confirmation hearing, the Senate hearing that decided whether she would get the job. According to the reports, the request came with an offer of access to senior Trump administration officials. Deters says he never sent the money.
That came weeks after the Journal reported on possible conflicts of interest tied to Guilfoyle’s involvement in energy deals in Greece. A conflict of interest is when an official’s personal or financial ties could influence the decisions they make on the job.
She is also accused of telling guests at a dinner in Athens in March that the United States could replace the Greek government. Guilfoyle’s lawyer has disputed how the dinner was described, and Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said the Greek energy minister who attended denies it as well. Her attorney has denied that she did anything wrong.
The timing has made things worse for Rubio. The official told the AP that Rubio is especially angry because he was visiting Athens last week while the allegations were coming out, and Guilfoyle greeted him with a bear hug and attended most, if not all, of his events. On Wednesday, Rubio publicly defended her, saying, “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.” By Thursday, he refused to answer reporters’ questions about her, saying he would not respond to claims he couldn’t confirm while Guilfoyle stood nearby at the foot of his plane.
Trump has kept his distance. “I don’t know too much,” he told reporters Friday. “But she was always very nice.”
The top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have called for an investigation into Guilfoyle.
In Greece, the government has tried to keep the controversy from turning into a diplomatic standoff. Gerapetritis told the Greek parliament Friday that calling Guilfoyle in to explain herself “would serve no purpose.” A government spokesperson said there was “never any question” of the Greek government being threatened.
