WASHINGTON — Kimberly Guilfoyle has resigned as the United States Ambassador to Greece, following a series of damaging allegations regarding her conduct while serving as a top diplomatic envoy.
The resignation, confirmed by Guilfoyle on Tuesday, comes after the White House indicated that the Trump administration had requested she step down. Addressing reporters earlier in the day, President Donald Trump acknowledged the departure, stating, “She was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading.”
The controversy centers on reports first published by The Wall Street Journal, which detailed a pattern of questionable behavior, including allegations that Guilfoyle leveraged her position for personal financial gain. Among the most serious claims is that she allegedly solicited a $100,000 payment from a prominent Trump donor to cover a personal American Express credit card bill just prior to her Senate confirmation hearing. Reports suggest she offered the donor access to high-level administration officials in exchange for the payment.
In a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter, Guilfoyle vehemently denied the allegations, framing them as a smear campaign. “These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity,” she wrote. She expressed gratitude to the President and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the opportunity to serve, adding, “I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service.”
Her legal team, led by David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, maintained that the requested funds were legitimate payments for speaking engagements that predated her nomination. They also defended her travel habits, asserting that all her private plane travel was cleared through the State Department and complied with federal regulations.
The resignation follows mounting pressure from Capitol Hill. Last week, Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, formally requested that the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General launch an investigation into Guilfoyle. Meeks cited reports of potential abuse of authority, conflicts of interest, and unethical conduct, including allegations that she threatened a host-country official and sought to use her influence to secure attendance at exclusive events like the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Together, these reports paint a disturbing picture of an ambassador using her official position and access to senior political appointees to advance the private interests of those willing to pay,” Meeks said in a statement released over the weekend.
Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host and California prosecutor who was previously married to California Governor Gavin Newsom, had until recently maintained the support of the State Department. As recently as last week, Secretary of State Rubio, while visiting Athens, publicly praised her performance as a “strong ambassador.”
The departure leaves a significant vacancy in a key diplomatic post as the administration now faces the task of managing the fallout from the ethics scandal.
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