U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle pushed a Trump donor to secretly pay down a $100,000 American Express card balance, according to messages obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The request, which came just days before her confirmation hearing, included the caveat that she needed the money in a way that didn’t leave a paper trail.
“It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express,” she wrote in a Signal chat to Kentucky attorney and former congressional candidate Eric Deters, the Journal reported.
According to the report, Guilfoyle and Deters had been in contact for months before the July 2025 conversation at the center of the accusations. Deters was trying to get Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s ex-fiancée, to use her status in the Trump administration to help with IRS legal and tax issues.
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What the messages said
The Journal said over the course of their conversations, Deters promised Guilfoyle as much as $1 million if she could help. Guilfoyle reportedly told him she messaged the new IRS chief on Deters’ behalf — and forwarded those messages to him — as well as appealing to the Justice Department.
As her confirmation hearing neared, Guilfoyle attempted to cash in on that promise, saying she needed her card balance paid down before the hearing on July 9, 2025.
“Honey, please, I need you to get this done for me today,” the Journal said she texted Deters on July 3 of that year, along with a prayer hands emoji and a PDF from American Express with bill-payment instructions.
She added, “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express; that’s all that will show. Please.”
Frustrated by her inability to sway the administration in her favor, Deters never paid her bill.
“Your needing $100,000 urgent unfortunately is not going to work,” Deters said, according to the Journal’s report. “I can’t do this without getting a divorce.”
Guilfoyle reportedly responded, “I’ve been calling you for over a week straight. You could be here meeting with Billy Long.”
At the time, Long was the IRS commissioner. President Donald Trump fired Long in August 2025 after just a few months on the job.
Not the first concerns raised
These are not the first concerns raised over Guilfoyle’s behavior. Last week, top Democrats on the House and Senate foreign affairs committees requested the State Department initiate a review of her conduct.
The request followed an investigation by the Journal into Guilfoyle’s efforts to broker gas deals with a Greek company and countries in Eastern Europe. The report found that the company’s lobbyist traveled with her to government meetings across the Balkans.
One of Guilfoyle’s lawyers, Jesse Binnall, told the Journal she disputes the messages’ authenticity but declined to provide specifics. He claimed Guilfoyle was paid to speak at events before she was nominated for ambassadorship and “was owed a balance for traveling to and supporting these patriotic events.” Deters said he didn’t owe Guilfoyle anything.
“Guilfoyle’s career in and out of public service is guided by deep and abiding values,” a U.S. embassy official told the Journal. “She was fully vetted by the bipartisan Senate Foreign Relations committee and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Ambassador remains committed to representing the American people with dedication and integrity.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Guilfoyle at an event in Athens on Wednesday, where he praised her work as the U.S. ambassador to Greece.
“Suffice it to say, our embassy is doing a great job,” he said. “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador.”
