President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are reportedly weighing whether to fire Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. Ambassador to Greece, after messages surfaced showing her asking a donor for a secret $100,000 payment.
Quick Take
- Signal messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal allegedly show Guilfoyle asking donor Eric Deters to wire $100,000 straight to American Express days before her Senate confirmation hearing.
- Deters publicly called the arrangement “pay to play” and said Guilfoyle offered access to the Trump administration in return.
- Fox News reports Trump and Rubio are “extremely pissed off” and considering her removal, citing a senior U.S. official.
- Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputes the texts are authentic and says the money was owed for speaking events, not a bailout.
- Vice President JD Vance cautioned against treating one person’s account as proof of guilt, saying consequences should only follow if wrongdoing is confirmed.
What The Messages Allegedly Show
The Wall Street Journal reportedly reviewed Signal messages in which Guilfoyle allegedly pressed Deters to pay off a $100,000 American Express balance. The quoted line read, “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express.” The request reportedly landed July 3, 2025, just six days before her July 9 Senate confirmation hearing.
The timing matters. A private financial ask sent days before a Senate vote on a major diplomatic post raises an obvious question. Was this an ambassador-to-be settling personal business, or someone trading on a soon-to-be-official title? The Hill reported the Journal’s trove included hundreds of texts, emails, and letters between the two, not just a single exchange.
A Donor Goes On Record With “Pay To Play”
Eric Deters, the Kentucky donor named in the reports, did not stay quiet. He told CBS News he had “no doubt it was pay to play,” claiming Guilfoyle sought the payment in exchange for helping him reach people inside the Trump administration. That is a direct, named, on-record accusation, not an anonymous leak. It carries real weight even though Deters stood to benefit from the access he says was promised, which gives him his own motive to tell this story a certain way.
The White House Reaction, As Reported
Fox News reported that Trump and Rubio are considering Guilfoyle’s removal, citing a senior U.S. official speaking through Associated Press reporting. The outlet described both men as “extremely pissed off” over her conduct. Neither the White House nor the State Department has issued a detailed public statement resolving the matter, which leaves the public relying on leaked characterizations rather than an official finding.
Guilfoyle’s Side And Vance’s Pushback
Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputed that the messages were authentic and said the balance in question related to unpaid speaking-event fees, a characterization Deters rejected. Her legal team has also said flatly that she did nothing wrong, and the U.S. Embassy in Athens reportedly offered quiet support for her. Vice President Vance went further, warning it was “absurd” to treat leaked messages and one person’s story as settled proof of guilt, adding that consequences should only follow if something bad actually happened.
That pushback deserves real weight. An unauthenticated text thread and a donor’s self-interested account are not a courtroom verdict. Fair-minded people should want the full message chain, the financial records, and any ethics review before concluding a sitting ambassador sold access. Conservatives who value due process should hold that same standard here, regardless of political affiliation.
Why This Fits A Bigger Pattern
Ambassadorships have long gone to political donors and allies rather than career diplomats, and research on past administrations has linked campaign giving to desirable postings. That history does not prove this specific allegation true. But it explains why a story like this lands so hard. Donors expecting access in return for money is an old Washington problem, and voters are primed to believe the worst when a name they recognize gets caught in it.
.@realDonaldTrump and @marcorubio consider firing Kimberly Guilfoyle amid misconduct allegations: Report https://t.co/WeEoso3K0E
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 12, 2026
No payment was ever completed, by Deters’s own account, which matters for how seriously the public should treat the “corruption” label versus an alleged solicitation that went nowhere. Whether Guilfoyle keeps her post likely hinges on three unresolved questions: are the messages real, did she promise anything official in return, and will the administration ever say so publicly. Until then, this remains a serious allegation, not a settled scandal.
Sources:
foxnews.com, thehill.com, cbsnews.com, yahoo.com, pbs.org
