Kimberly Guilfoyle reportedly begged Trump donor to pay her $100K credit card bill: WSJ
Rubio goes off on reporters before heading to Portugal
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has a tense exchange with a reporter on the tarmac after being asked about Kimberly Guilfoyle and a Wall Street Journal report accusing her of begging a donor to pay off her credit card bill in exchange for access to President Trump.
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle reportedly begged a donor and supporter of President Donald Trump to pay her $100,000 American Express bill in exchange for access to the president, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Guilfoyle reportedly sent the messages on Signal just days before her confirmation hearing and said if he followed her instructions, it wouldn’t leave a paper trail.
Kimberly Guilfoyle’s message to Eric Deters
What they're saying:
According to the Journal, the donor Guilfoyle asked for money is Eric Deters, an attorney and businessman who ran for Congress in Kentucky. Deters was reportedly seeking help from the Trump administration on personal and legal issues. He had promised up to $1 million if Guilfoyle could successfully lobby on his behalf, the report says.
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle attends the Celia Kritharioti Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show as part of Paris Fashion Week in Paris France on July 9, 2026. (Photo by Laurent Hou / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
Guilfoyle, a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Trump’s son Donald Jr., reportedly told Deters that if he paid the $100,000 credit card bill, "I will be your Trump ride or die, forever and ever."
"It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express," Signal messages reviewed by the Journal reportedly said.
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"Honey please I need you to get this done for me today," another message said.
Deters said he didn’t end up making the payment because it "would cost him his marriage."
As for Guilfoyle, "she never came through on anything," Deters told the news outlet, despite promising access to "every secretary of you know defense, transportation, treasury commerce IRS commissioner everyone gets right back to me."
Guilfoyle also reportedly sent a message to Deters asking him to "stop papering all these things."
"It’s really dangerous and not helpful to you or me while you could simply just call me on signal," she reportedly wrote.
According to the report, Guilfoyle had been complaining to friends that she was "broke" before her confirmation hearing.
Guilfoyle’s response
The other side:
Guilfoyle has denied any wrongdoing.
A lawyer for Guilfoyle told the Journal that she doesn’t believe the messages are authentic, but "declined to provide specifics." The lawyer said Guilfoyle was owed money for speaking at "patriotic events" before her nomination as ambassador to Greece. Deters said he doesn’t owe Guilfoyle any money.
Marco Rubio declines to comment
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday flatly refused to comment on the allegations in the Journal report. He spoke before leaving Greece, where he delivered a speech calling for European countries to return to what he described as their civilizational roots.
Rubio said he was aware of The Wall Street Journal’s report, which was published late Wednesday, but had no idea if it was true and he would not address it.
"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 said at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart Greece, looked on.
At a joint news conference with the Greek foreign minister on Wednesday, Rubio said he would not address the allegations while visiting a foreign country, but added, "Suffice it to say our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here."
Democrats call for Guilfoyle investigation
Dig deeper:
The top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees have called for an investigation into Guilfoyle, but Rubio would not say if he was prepared to open one.
Congressional Democrats already were looking into claims reported last month by the Wall Street Journal that Guilfoyle acted improperly while serving as the top U.S. envoy to Greece.
The Journal reported that Guilfoyle told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.
The Source: This report includes information from The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.