A veteran political commentator argues President Donald Trump's former ambassador to Greece didn't lose her post for the reason most observers assume.
Kimberly Guilfoyle's exit had far less to do with the corruption allegations against her than with how badly she embarrassed the president, Tom Nichols wrote in a column for The Atlantic on Wednesday. Her "real sin," Nichols argued, "was the pathetic and humiliating nature of her behavior."
Guilfoyle, who has denied the allegations, stepped down Tuesday after the White House requested her resignation. Nichols dismissed the idea that she alone crossed some hidden ethical line as "laughable," noting that several other Trump officials have weathered serious accusations and kept their jobs. Among them is border czar Tom Homan, who was recorded in 2024 accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents posing as executives. Homan denies any wrongdoing.
What went wrong for Guilfoyle, Nichols suggested, is how her conduct came to light. Trump donor Eric Deters released messages in which she pleaded with him to wire $100,000 straight into her American Express account in July 2025, shortly before her confirmation hearings. "Honey please I need you to get this done for me today," she wrote.
She also repeatedly told Deters to quit putting things in writing, an instruction she delivered in writing. "What a nightmare you'll literally cost me my ambassadorship stop writing," one message read. Deters claims she promised him access to the Trump administration and went public this month when it never materialized.
Nichols also pointed to a Wall Street Journal report that Guilfoyle, after being left off the guest list for an Eric Trump dinner in Davos in January, leaned on an American businessman to get her in. "I'm going to make you a lot of f— money," she told him in a recorded conversation. She was equally blunt about the Greek hostess. "She should be kissing my f— a—," Guilfoyle said.
Trump himself has no issue with profanity or with cashing in on public office, Nichols argued, but he could not abide the bad headlines heading into the midterms. The president quickly distanced himself from the woman once engaged to his eldest son. "She wasn't a member of my family," Trump said Tuesday. "She, uh, I guess dated my son a long time ago."
The lesson, according to Nichols, is that profiting from this presidency comes with rules. "Don't be too obvious; don't embarrass the boss; don't get caught if you can help it," Nichols wrote.