(Adnkronos) – “The accusations against me are false and I will vigorously defend my name, reputation and integrity,” Kimberly Guilfoyle said, confirming she will leave her post as United States ambassador to Greece following an announcement by the White House’s new press secretary, Katie Zeldin Zacharia.

“Serving the United States has been the honor of my life,” Guilfoyle wrote on X, thanking President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for appointing her. She reiterated her loyalty to Trump and her support for the “America First” agenda, saying she will continue to back the president.

Commenting on the decision to remove Guilfoyle, Trump said, “We didn’t like what we were reading,” though he added she “was doing a good job.” He emphasized that she “is not part of my family,” noting he believed she had a past relationship with his son but is not family. Trump also said he had not spoken with Guilfoyle and that she “will not be there anymore,” repeating that he did not like what he had read about her.

Guilfoyle—formerly married to Gavin Newsom when he was a San Francisco official and later mayor, a past partner of Donald Trump Jr., and once a colleague and rival of Kamala Harris—is the ambassador to Greece whom Trump asked to step down amid a series of scandals.

The president told reporters late last night that “we are evaluating, we are not happy,” using stronger language than his earlier comments from the end of last week, when he said he did not know much about the matter and that she had “always been very nice.” The firmer tone anticipated the announcement by White House press secretary Katie Zeldin Zacharia on her first official day.

Attention turned to the 57‐year‐old, whom Trump appointed in December 2024 months after her split with Trump Jr., after a Wall Street Journal article in late September reported unclear ties between the ambassador and Greek businessmen—particularly a construction company and a lobbying firm—that allegedly paid for luxury trips for her.

The Journal reported that Guilfoyle encouraged Balkan governments, including Bulgaria and Albania, to work with the Greek construction company. The piece also described a political gaffe in which she reportedly asserted at a dinner that the U.S. can influence political changes in other countries, embarrassing the Greek energy minister who was present. The most damaging disclosure last week were text messages to Trump donor Eric Deters in which Guilfoyle asked him to pay off a $100,000 American Express debt for her in the days before her Senate confirmation, allegedly promising him access to the administration in return.

The call for the ambassador’s resignation came at a sensitive moment for Trump and House Republicans, who face challenging midterm outlooks in polls. The controversy involves a longtime Trump loyalist who had been close to the family for six years alongside Trump Jr. Trump had described the Athens post as entrusted to “a friend and an ally,” praising her “extensive experience and leadership in law, media and politics.”

Before her television career at Fox News—where she was described by outlets as a prominent conservative voice—Guilfoyle served as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco from 2000 to 2004. Those years overlapped with her marriage to Gavin Newsom, whom she married in 2001 while he was a city supervisor and who later became mayor in 2003. In September 2004 Harper’s Bazaar ran a feature calling them “the new Kennedys,” but by January the couple had filed for divorce.

Also from that period is Guilfoyle’s professional intersection with Kamala Harris. The current vice president, who worked in the San Francisco district attorney’s office at the start of her career, was in the office while Guilfoyle was negotiating to become an assistant district attorney.

Guilfoyle has described the two as workplace rivals and, in an interview with the New York Times in September 2024, alleged that Harris once made a fake call to say Guilfoyle had not been hired—a claim Harris has consistently denied. Guilfoyle has repeatedly criticized Harris since, urging others to keep her “out of the White House,” while Harris denies the specific allegation about the call.