Donald Trump has asked the US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign following allegations of misconduct
Guilfoyle allegedly asked a Trump donor to pay her hefty credit card bill in exchange for access to his administration
Trump says "she was doing a good job, but we didn't like what we were reading"
In a statement, Guilfoyle – the former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr – denies the claims against her and vows to "vigorously defend my name"
Reports Guilfoyle would leave the post were confirmed by Trump's new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia in her first briefing to journalists, where she took just three questions
Zacharia's first briefing was easily the shortest I've ever attended, writes our White House reporter, who heard audible gasps from reporters when she announced it was ending
Asked for his verdict, Trump calls her performance "very good"
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Edited by Johanna Chisholm and Oliver O'Connell, with Sarah Smith and Bernd Debusmann Jr reporting from the White House
Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Live reporter
Katie Zacharia's premiere briefing began several minutes behind schedule and ended a lot earlier than most expected (including our own reporters).
It is not unusual for White House briefings to start later than advertised, but her's stands apart for its length and the range of questions chosen.
It was about 14 minutes long and she took questions from three reporters at Breitbart, Fox News, and the Daily Mail.
By contrast, her predecessor Karoline Leavitt began her tenure with 46 minutes at the lectern, an official time-stamped White House transcript and video recordings of the 29 January 2025 shows.
She took questions from a range of outlets including Axios, the Associated Press, CNN, and Fox News.
Karine Jean-Pierre, President Joe Biden's last press secretary, spent one hour and four minutes at her first briefing and answered questions from a diverse cast of reporters.
One of the questions put to Trump earlier today was whether or not he believes it will be harder for Republicans to keep the House or the Senate.
"I would say equal," the president replied, adding they are at a "big disadvantage" heading into the November midterm elections.
"I'm doing a tour right now and I'm doing rallies and the level of enthusiasm for the Republican party is way up."
He claimed that support for Ohio senator Jon Husted has gone up since delivering a speech at a rally in Clarksville yesterday.
"I'm right now going to Alaska to try and help [Senator] Dan Sullivan. That's a long way away and I would only do it if I thought he was good," Trump added.
It takes around seven hours to fly to Alaska, which the Republicans won by 13 points in 2024.
Nikos Papanikolaou
BBC News
Kimberly Guilfoyle’s time as US ambassador to Greece attracted scrutiny over her close relationships with influential Greek businessmen.
The Wall Street Journal reported that she travelled on private jets belonging to Greek business figures, including Alexandros Exarchou, head of Aktor, a major Greek construction and infrastructure group involved in deals to import American liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The newspaper also reported that Guilfoyle encouraged Balkan governments to work with Aktor, while a registered lobbyist for the company accompanied her to diplomatic meetings. Aktor’s lawyers denied that she had improperly promoted its interests.
The WSJ separately reported that Greek shipping magnate Nikolas Tsakos provided private jet travel and paid for her stay at a luxury Paris hotel. Neither Tsakos nor his wife responded to the newspaper’s requests for comment.
The reports raised questions about the boundaries between diplomacy and private business interests. A US embassy spokesperson said Guilfoyle had complied with State Department ethics and gift-reporting requirements, rejecting the allegations as unfounded.
Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter
Earlier today, we heard new White House press Secretary Katie Zacharia tell reporters that President Trump is "his own best spokesperson" – a refrain I hear often from Trump supporters and political allies here in Washington.
He stepped into that role not long after the short 14-minute briefing concluded.
With Zacharia standing a few feet behind him, Trump answered a series of questions from reporters on a wide range of topics, including intelligence sharing with Ukraine, the diesel deal with Russia, the conflict in Iran and the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Notably, Trump said that he believed Zacharia performed well.
Various US media outlets, however, are now citing unnamed administration officials as questioning how long she will remain in the role, and critics of the Trump administration are describing her appearance as shaky on social media.
It is not unusual for Trump to speak to reporters even on days in which press secretaries brief the media. He enjoys the back-and-forth with reporters, whether in the Oval Office, on the lawn or on Air Force One.
What is unusual, however, was the extreme brevity of today's briefing.
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Watch: Inside Katie Zacharia's very brief White House briefing
Donald Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle, seen here in 2023, were previously engaged
President Trump's embattled ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has resigned following damaging news reports including allegedly asking a donor to pay a credit card bill.
Guilfoyle has denied the allegations describing them as false.
Here are some quick facts on Kimberly Guilfoyle:
As he left the White House to board Marine One, Trump also answered reporters' questions about the Ukraine-Russia war and the Houthis in Yemen.
Asked about Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, the president said: "Ukraine hit many sites the day before."
But he demurred when asked if Russia had broken a ceasefire. He said both countries want the war to "come to an end" but "just don't know how to get there".
Turning to a question on the Middle East, Trump responded "They're behaving very badly," when asked about the Houthis, an Iran-backed militia group that have been attacking infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
He did not answer if he'd made a decision whether to help the Saudis retaliate against them.
Donald Trump answered questions from the media after his new press secretary took just three questions from reporters at a briefing earlier
There's been a lot of updates come through since we heard Katie Zacharia deliver her first media briefing as the new White House press secretary.
If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter
It now seems certain that Kimberly Guilfoyle will no longer by the US ambassador to Greece.
But her statement, released in the last hour, appears to be confusing many in Washington.
She said that her tenure in Athens "may" be coming to an end. But it is unclear whether she has accepted the resignation. That could be interpreted to mean she does not view the resignation as certain.
And a short while ago, Trump said that he and others at the White House "didn't like what we were reading" – but he did not explicitly say she has accepted the call to resign.
The BBC has contacted the White House for clarification.
When asked to appraise Katie Zacharia's first briefing as White House press secretary, President Trump seemed to approve.
Zacharia, who could be seen standing behind Trump as he fielded questions from reporters, did "very good", he said.
The president was also asked directly where she passed the bar exam, however his response is inaudible.
As a reminder, Zacharia has claimed she is an attorney during several appearances on US media outlets before becoming press secretary.
Zacharia was seen standing close by to Donald Trump as he fielded questions from reporters outside the White House
On Friday, Trump announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately "to the American and global marketplace" followed by several other shipments.
A few minutes ago, the US president was asked about concerns from some Republicans that Russia would use revenue from the diesel deal to "buy bombs" to continue the war in Ukraine.
"Nobody has told me anything," he said. "That's a diesel deal that is going to be released into the world for the world market because the world market suffered with high prices."
Trump has now finished taking questions from reporters outside the White House, but stick with us as we bring you more key lines before he departed for Alaska.
A reporter now asks Trump if the US has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
"No, we haven't," the president says.
"We are helping them and we are sharing intel," he later adds.
"We want the war to end. So we're working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end."
Trump is now speaking to reporters outside the White House.
He is asked if he was surprised by allegations against Kimberly Guilfoyle considering she was almost a member of his family.
He acknowledges she dated his son a long time ago and says she was doing a good job but he didn't like what he was reading.
"She went to Greece, she was doing a good job, but we didn't like what we were reading," he says, adding that he has not yet spoken to her.
As a reminder: Trump's White House press secretary confirmed earlier that the White House asked Guilfoyle to resign following the coverage of various scandals in the media.
We are now hearing from US President Donald Trump as he prepares to head off for a campaign rally in Alaska.
His new spokeswoman Katie Zacharia hinted he could answer reporters' questions on his way out.
Stay with us.
More now from Kimberly Guilfoyle's statement.
"My gratitude and respect for President Trump and Secretary Rubio remain unwavering. I am proud of what we accomplished together, and I will always be a loyal supporter of President Trump and his mission to Make America Great Again," she writes.
She also addresses reporting by the Wall Street Journal and others that she had asked a Trump donor to pay a massive credit card bill, causing an uproar that led to her resignation.
"These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity," she writes on X.
Kimberly Guilfoyle – who White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia said earlier was asked to resign as the US ambassador to Greece – has just issued a statement.
"While my time as Ambassador may be coming to an end, my commitment to President Trump, the America First movement, and the country I love will never end," she writes in a post on X.
We will bring you more from her statement shortly.Nikos Papanikolaou
BBC News
Kimberly Guilfoyle is seen with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month at an event in Athens, Greece
Kimberly Guilfoyle had already faced political criticism in Greece following a Wall Street Journal report in September that prompted several opposition parties to demand explanations from the government.
The newspaper reported that, during a dinner in Athens in March, Guilfoyle allegedly suggested the US could bring down governments – including Greece's.
"We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here," she reportedly said, referring to the prospect of the Romanian government's collapse.
Greece's Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou reportedly challenged her remarks, arguing that the US could not replace a democratically elected Greek government.
Guilfoyle's lawyer has disputed the Wall Street Journal's characterisation of the exchange.
The report prompted criticism from opposition parties, and many of them demanded explanations from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's government.
Opposition parties also raised concerns about Guilfoyle's reported involvement in promoting American liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports through Greece and the wider Balkan region.
The Greek government subsequently denied that any threat had been made.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said there had never been an issue of the Greek government being threatened, while Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis rejected calls to summon Guilfoyle to the foreign ministry over the incident.
The controversy raised wider questions among opposition parties about American diplomatic influence in Greece and the government's relationship with Washington.
Donald Trump is seen speaking at a rally in Ohio on Monday night
As we noted a short while ago, Zacharia ended her first press briefing by saying Donald Trump would answer more questions when he departs the White House later today.
The president will travel to a rally in Wasilla, Alaska, where he is expected to campaign for Republican candidates ahead of the US midterm elections in November.
The rally is set to start at 14:00 local time (18:00 EDT/23:00 BST), with Trump expected to begin speaking at approximately 15:30 local time.Bernd Debusmann Jr
at the White House briefing room
The big news of the day has become the administration's request that Kimberly Guilfoyle resign from her position as ambassador to Greece.
That will come as no surprise to those who have been following the mounting controversies about Guilfoyle, who had allegedly asked a Trump donor to pay her hefty credit card bill in exchange for access to his administration.
Audio recordings obtained by the Wall Street Journal reportedly include Guilfoyle boasting of her connections to prominent Greek business tycoons who she said bankrolled luxury travel and flights on private jets.
According to the newspaper, she also boasted to an official in Athens that the US could topple the Greek government.
Her lawyers denied any wrongdoing by Guilfoyle and said she was owed the money for speaking engagements and consulting work for the donor.
The controversies had become increasingly difficult for the Trump administration to defend, and when Trump said yesterday that "we're not happy" – it was clear to most in Washington that her position was no longer tenable.Bernd Debusmann Jr
at the White House briefing room
I've now been covering the White House for nearly four years – and that was without a doubt the shortest briefing I've ever attended. By a wide, wide margin.
There was a sense of disbelief when she announced that the briefing was ending. In the back where I was sitting, there were audible gasps. Several reporters yelled in her direction, asking when she'd come back to the podium.
Afterwards, I overheard several reporters – including some from outwardly pro-Trump news outlets – commenting on what they termed a "weird" briefing.
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