WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2026. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece and former fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., asked a Trump donor to help cover a roughly $100,000 American Express bill shortly before her Senate confirmation hearing, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The donor, Eric Deters, a former Kentucky congressional candidate, was reportedly looking for help reaching the Trump administration over personal tax problems. The Journal reports that Guilfoyle messaged him on July 3, 2025, six days before her hearing, urging him to take care of the payment that day and including instructions for how to pay it.

Deters told the Journal that Guilfoyle promised him loyalty in return for his help. He said he did not pay the bill, adding that doing so would have jeopardized his marriage. The report also says Guilfoyle was angry that Deters had talked openly about the arrangement and warned him in a message that his comments could cost her the ambassadorship.

The report comes a week after Guilfoyle’s conduct drew congressional scrutiny. The top Democrats on the Senate and House foreign affairs committees urged the State Department to review her conduct, citing a Wall Street Journal investigation into her efforts to promote gas deals with a Greek company across southeastern Europe. pol

Guilfoyle was previously married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, when he was mayor of San Francisco. Her engagement to Trump Jr. ended before she took the Greece post.

This brief relies on the Journal’s reporting as relayed by The National News Desk and on a summary of the October 1 request for a review. It doesn’t include independent verification or any response from Guilfoyle, the State Department, or the White House.

Source: The Wall Street Journal