Kimberly Guilfoyle denies allegations of misconduct in statement announcing resignation
Kimberly Guilfoyle, who White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia said earlier was asked to resign as the US ambassador to Greece, denied allegations of engaging in misconduct in a statement announcing her resignation.
“These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity. I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, and defending the values that make America exceptional,” Guilfoyle said in a post shared to X.
“I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service,” her statement continued.
Despite the call for her resignation earlier today, Guilfoyle remained steadfast in her support of President Trump.
“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.”
Key events
En route to a political rally in Wasilla, Alaska – the town made famous by its former mayor, Sarah Palin – the president of the United States is passing his time posting disturbing video clips of people being mauled by lions, set to jaunty music, on his social media platform.
It is not clear why, but one of the taxpayer funded ads the Trump administration prepared for broadcast was reportedly titled King of the Jungle and compared Donald Trump to a lion and included section of Christopher Walken’s lion speech from the film, Poolhall Junkies. The same audio was used in a fan-made video comparing him to a lion that Trump shared on social media in late 2020, as he was fighting to have the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden overturned.
A racist fan-made video Trump shared earlier this year, also titled King of the Jingle, depicted him as an animated lion and Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
And for a view from the briefing room – my colleague David Smith reports from the White House – on Zacharia’s 14-minute debut that was all “stilted delivery, nervous tics and lack of eye contact”.
Read more here:
While Katie Zacharia’s very short briefing was certainly a surprise for many in the press corps, the view – at least publicly – from White House officials is that the new press secretary met the moment.
“A tremendous start,” wrote White House communications director Steven Cheung. “She commanded the room and effectively reminded the American people of all the great work President Trump and his Administration has done thus far.”
Here’s a recap of the day so far
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Kimberly Guilfoyle, denied allegations of engaging in misconduct in a statement announcing her resignation as US ambassador to Greece. A reminder that Guilfoyle was under immense scrutiny to step down after the Wall Street Journal reported on a series of questionable acts prior to securing her role in Athens. These included an alleged threat to a host country official, accepting improper gifts and offering to wield influence inside the administration in return for the payment of a $100,000 credit card bill.
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Earlier, at her first media briefing, new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia revealed that the administration had asked Guilfoyle to resign. Overall, Zacharia kept her briefing short, and only took five questions from three reporters – all from conservative outlets: Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail. She said that she would travel with the president for his upcoming allies in Alaska, Arizona and Montana, in the final three-week sprint until the midterm elections, and repeated many familiar talking points touting the administration’s self-proclaimed achievements. However, she was unable to answer whether the US had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, after Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy feuded over the US president’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel imports.
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Donald Trump, however, took the question when he left for a campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska later in the day. “We are helping them, and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end. So we’re working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end,” the president told reporters outside the White House.
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Six Republican senators have also condemned the Trump administration’s deal to lift sanctions on Russia’s diesel exports in a new letter to the president alongside Democrats. The lawmakers write that the “deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies” and call for it to be “rescinded”. Four of the GOP senators – Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John Curtis – joined some of their Democratic colleagues on the foreign relations committee to decry the move over the weekend. All of them, as well as John Cornyn, the outgoing Republican senator from Texas, and Mitch McConnell, the GOP senator who only recently returned to Capitol Hill after a months-long absence and will also leave Congress at the end of his term, signed on to the letter.
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Vice-president JD Vance also said today that he “did not have advance notice” that Ilhan Omar’s Washington home was being raided by federal agents. “We try to let the law follow the facts rather than creating facts just to prosecute people we don’t like. And because of that, I think the president and I largely try to stay out of Department of Justice investigations and other prosecutions,” Vance told reporters ahead of holding a rally in Tyler, Texas.
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Federal judge Ana Reyes issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday to pause tree-cutting at the East Potomac Golf Course until 26 October. The tree-felling comes as Trump has moved to turn the course into a world-class golf venue – part of his grand vision for Washington DC, since the beginning of his second presidency.
Nick Robins-Early
Elon Musk has become the biggest political donor of the 2026 US midterm elections cycle, funneling about $366m into political groups and campaigns as he backs conservative candidates and rightwing causes.
The world’s richest person has poured more than $276m into politics since July alone, some of the most rapid political spending in US history. He’s targeting key races that will determine which party controls the US Senate.
The New York Times first reported the spending numbers, which will be released in a federal filing on Thursday. Musk’s spending outpaces his 2024 presidential election contributions, in which he sunk nearly $300m into Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
Musk’s political spending reasserts the SpaceX and Tesla CEO as the top Republican mega-donor and furthers his rightwing political influence. Musk, who led the Trump administration’s efforts to gut federal agencies last year, has become an international linchpin for far-right political movements in recent years as he aligns himself with anti-immigrant, conservative leaders.
The tech mogul’s spending spree is also a reversal from a period in the middle of last year when Musk claimed he would step back from making such large-scale political donations. The failures of his so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) and costly public backlash to his political influence, as well as a dramatic falling out with Trump, appeared to have dampened his interest in Washington politics.
Six GOP senators condemn Trump deal to lift Russian diesel sanctions
Six Republican senators have condemned the Trump administration’s deal to lift sanctions on Russia’s diesel exports in a new letter to the president alongside Democrats.
Led by Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, the lawmakers write that the “deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies” and call for it to be “rescinded”. Four of the GOP senators – Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John Curtis – joined some of their Democratic colleagues on the foreign relations committee to decry the move over the weekend.
All of them, as well as John Cornyn, the outgoing Republican senator from Texas, and Mitch McConnell, the GOP senator who only recently returned to Capitol Hill after a months-long absence and will also leave Congress at the end of his term, signed on to the letter.
“We also recognize the urgent need to lower energy costs for American families and address the disruptions caused by the war with Iran,” they wrote. “However, allowing Russian-origin diesel into global markets will offer limited to no relief to Americans. It will have a negligible impact on fuel prices, but the revenues the Kremlin will receive from this agreement will undoubtedly finance its desired war of attrition and advance its security cooperation with China, Iran, and North Korea.”
This comes as energy analysts tell the Guardian that the amount of diesel – and the time it will take to arrive in the US – will have little impact on American consumers.
Helena Smith
Reporting from Athens
Only hours earlier the Greek government denied any suggestion that Kimberly Guilfoyle was on her way out.
“There has been no relevant request, nor has it been discussed with Greek authorities,” the government spokesperson, Pavlos Marinakis, said when asked if Guilfoyle would resign.
But speculation had been rife. The allegations of misconduct engulfing the envoy were not only embarrassing for Guilfoyle. The Greek media had begun to speak of the US embassy being ‘headless’ and dysfunctional only days after US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s high-profile visit to the country.
“If truth be told, she is not respected in Athens,” one well-placed insider told the Guardian. “Before any of this, important people had begun to think of her as money hungry. In private dinners she would be drunk before the meal was over. It was embarrassing.”
Alec Mally, a former senior US diplomat who had handled Greek affairs at the US state department, told the Guardian the American embassy in Athens had been put “in an impossible situation because the ambassador had increasingly come across almost as if she were representing an old-style Balkan country.”
“With allegations multiplying daily, the question was whether her Trump family Teflon was anywhere near sufficient to keep her in the job,” Mally said. “It would not surprise me if the Greek public reacts with joy to the news of her resignation.”
Although there were some who argued the direct access to Trump “outweighed all the negatives” there were many who thought her appointment had been “an insult to the country’s reputation,” he added.
In recent weeks Guilfoyle had done what she had rarely done in the whirlwind eleven months since she assumed the post: she had remained out of sight. But reported claims she had told Greece’s energy minister that Washington was capable of toppling any government – including the centre-right administration in Athens – if they didn’t toe the line had stirred outrage. On the left where many have still not forgotten Washington’s support of the 1967-74 military dictatorship, Guilfolye’s comments had caused widespread consternation.
On 9 October, in a stormy debate in parliament, Greece’s foreign minister Giorgos Gerapetritis was forced to deny the claim – one of several surrounding the US envoy’s alleged improper behaviour reported by the Wall Street Journal – but not before the prominent left wing politician and former deputy foreign minister Sia Anagnostopoulos had said it was “a question of national dignity that the American ambassador is called to give an explanation.”
Within hours of arriving in Greece, Guilfoyle was seen at a bouzouki music club attending a party thrown by a popular singer who would go on to be one of her closest friends in Athens. “I think we can safely say she was like no ambassador Greece has ever seen before,” said one official speaking on condition of anonymity. “Her first visit to parliament was unforgettable with the entire house of [male] MPs lining up like schoolchildren to greet her. I don’t think that in these uncertain times many will be shedding tears at the news of her departure.”
Federal judge orders Trump administration to pause tree-cutting on historic DC golf course
Federal judge Ana Reyes issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday to pause tree-cutting at the East Potomac Golf Course until 26 October.
The tree removals come as Trump has moved to turn the course into a world-class golf venue – part of his grand vision for Washington DC, since the beginning of his second presidency in early 2025.
Reyes’s ruling came after she issued a 24-hour pause to tree cutting, yesterday, while she decided on an emergency order from plaintiffs concerned that Trump’s plans for the course are moving forward despite a pending court case challenging them.
President Trump said that the lift to sanctions on Russia selling diesel fuel will be used to support the world market, when asked if there are concerns that Russia will use the lift to support its war with Ukraine.
“Nobody has told me anything,” he said. “That’s a diesel deal not for us. That’s being released into the world. That’s not being released to us,” Trump responded.
“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. And when you knock out diesel refineries, that’s not a great thing,” the president concluded.
President Trump accused that the Yemen Houthis of “purposefully trying to drive up oil prices,” ahead of the US midterms.
“The Houthis are behaving very badly. I thought they learned their lesson a year ago when we bombed the HELL out of them and, at their request, stopped,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“They’ve been silent for a long time, but now they’ve emerged again, probably at the behest of Iran, which is a Failing Nation, with No Navy, No Airforce, the World’s Worst Economy, and 301% Inflation, in a very nasty way, hitting Saudi Arabia, and purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices, probably prior to the U.S. Elections — NOT NICE,” the president continued.
Kimberly Guilfoyle denies allegations of misconduct in statement announcing resignation
Kimberly Guilfoyle, who White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia said earlier was asked to resign as the US ambassador to Greece, denied allegations of engaging in misconduct in a statement announcing her resignation.
“These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity. I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, and defending the values that make America exceptional,” Guilfoyle said in a post shared to X.
“I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service,” her statement continued.
Despite the call for her resignation earlier today, Guilfoyle remained steadfast in her support of President Trump.
“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.”
Trump also teased, again, the possibility of helping Saudi Arabia in its ongoing conflict against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, after an attack over the weekend at Riyadh’s main international airport killed 13 people.
“The Houthis have acted very badly,” Trump said, noting that he wouldn’t reveal if he had made a decision.
He also said that he “might” encourage President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey to help the operation in Yemen. “He’s a great friend of mine,” Trump said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what Katie Zacharia answered when reporters asked her today when and where she passed the bar exam to practice law.
The State Bar of California doesn’t yield any results for Zacharia, or her maiden name – Black.
The new press secretary will now travel with the president over the coming days for several campaign rallies in Alaska, Arizona and Montana.
Trump says that US is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, with the new press secretary waiting in the background, Donald Trump said the US is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine, after the president and Volodymyr Zelenskyy feuded this weekend, following the announcement that the US would lift diesel sanctions on Russia.
“We are helping them, and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end. So we’re working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end,” Trump said, after Katie Zacharia was unable to answer the question in the briefing room earlier.
“Honestly, they both want it to end, and they don’t know how to get to that point. There’s a lot of hatred there between the two of them,” the president added.
