President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are considering firing Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle after ethics reports that have angered senior officials and drawn Democratic calls for a probe.
A senior U.S. official told the Associated Press on Sunday that Trump and Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The official said they would likely decide this week after Monday’s Columbus Day holiday.
Kimberly Guilfoyle is the U.S. ambassador to Greece, a former Fox News Channel host, and a former California prosecutor. She was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr. Her job is now under review over reports of improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her time in Athens.
No dismissal has been announced. The talks are underway in Washington, and they center on whether America’s top diplomat in Greece mixed official power with personal favors. That is a live personnel question, not a cable argument.
A second U.S. official said the State Department’s inspector general is looking into the allegations. That office is the department’s internal watchdog. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity about personnel matters, could not say whether a formal probe had begun.
Rubio visited Athens just last week. Guilfoyle attended most, if not all, of his events. She greeted him on arrival with a bear hug as the allegations swirled.
On Wednesday, Breitbart reported, Rubio offered a public defense.
"Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here."
Then another report landed late Wednesday. After that first burst of coverage, Rubio declined to comment publicly on the growing claims. He had already said he would not treat unconfirmed press accounts as settled fact.
On Thursday, at the foot of his plane before leaving Athens, Rubio spoke as Guilfoyle looked on. She had come to see him depart.
"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. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things."
He also told journalists he did not know if the allegations were true. He said he would not respond if he could not confirm them. That is a fair rule. It is also not a shield if the file keeps getting thicker.
The senior official said Rubio had been particularly angry, not least because of that Athens trip and the bear-hug greeting while the reports were already in the air. The official said Rubio had grown increasingly frustrated as the reports multiplied. That frustration now sits beside the donor-bill controversy that followed him through the visit.
The Wall Street Journal has published a series of stories since late September describing questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. The paper’s first account said she told guests at a reception that the United States could undermine the Greek government if it chose to. It also said she promoted the business interests of one Greek construction and energy company and allowed that company’s lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.
Later Journal reporting alleged a threat to a host-country official, improper gifts and services, and an offer to use her influence inside the administration in return for payment of a large credit card bill. Those are claims in print. They are not findings by a court or a completed investigation.
The Journal, citing text messages, reported that Guilfoyle asked a Trump donor and supporter to pay a $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing and promised access to administration officials if he did. Fox News identified the donor as Eric Deters and the card as American Express.
The Journal also reported that Guilfoyle was enraged earlier this year about not being invited to a Greek-themed event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It said she demanded to attend and boasted about luxury travel to France with energy company executives. The Daily Mail, for its part, reported that she had alienated staff at the U.S. embassy in Athens and pushed the bounds of behavior for the top U.S. representative to Greece.
Guilfoyle has not addressed the reports directly. Her lawyer has said she did nothing wrong. The embassy in Athens has tacitly expressed support for her.
If even part of that ledger is accurate, it is not “style.” It is a public office treated like a private tab. Ambassadors do not get to sell access, lean on host officials, or turn an embassy into a clubhouse for favored firms.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, one of the top Democrats on the House foreign affairs panel, has called for an investigation. So has Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations panel. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, has done the same, in line with Democratic calls for a review.
They are asking for a probe of a Trump-appointed ambassador. That much is on the record. What they have not had to do is invent a process. A second U.S. official already said the inspector general is looking at the allegations.
Inspectors general often start with informal inquiries into complaints against staffers. Many of those inquiries never become full investigations. A full investigation can lead to discipline, up to and including dismissal. The State Department has declined to comment on a potential inspector general investigation.
That is the proper lane: facts, records, and a watchdog, not a pile-on timed to a secretary of state’s trip. Rubio’s public point still stands. A source in a newspaper is not a verdict. Neither is a press conference demand from the minority.
Trump told a reporter Monday, the New York Post reported:
"Well, we’re looking at it. Yeah, we’re not happy."
A source close to the White House told the paper that senior officials want Guilfoyle replaced and that her standing with the president is badly damaged. The paper described Trump as weighing whether to terminate her. That matches the Sunday account of a decision expected after the holiday.
The Washington Examiner reported that Trump and Rubio are weighing removal over alleged financial impropriety and workplace misconduct, with a decision expected after Columbus Day. Fox News likewise reported that no departure has been confirmed.
The president has not outsourced this to cable bookers or to House Democrats. He is doing what an executive is supposed to do when an envoy’s conduct becomes the story: look at it, and say so. Readers already tracking the Greece ambassadorship fight know the choice is retain her, remove her, or wait on the watchdog.
Loyalty got Guilfoyle the hearing. It does not entitle her to keep the title if the conduct cannot be defended. Trump has shown he will weigh other high-profile firings when an official’s judgment is the issue. That is not chaos. That is a chain of command.
The United States can live with a vacant desk in Athens for a stretch. It cannot live with the idea that a U.S. embassy is a personal marketplace. If the reports collapse, she should stay. If they hold, she should go.
An American ambassadorship exists to serve the United States, not a private network of favors. That is the standard, and it is not optional.
