Vance signals unease after report claims Kimberly Guilfoyle attempted to trade access for funds

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he takes issue with anyone seeking financial gain in exchange for access to Trump administration officials after a report claimed that Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, sought funds and offered access to senior administration officials before her confirmation.

“Obviously I don’t like it,” Vance said when asked by a reporter if he had any reaction to a scenario in which a U.S. ambassador tried to trade access for funds. The reporter did not name Guilfoyle specifically.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Guilfoyle asked a donor and former congressional candidate for $100,000 to pay an American Express bill. CNN has contacted Guilfoyle. A lawyer for the ambassador told the Journal that Guilfoyle disputed the authenticity of the messages.

Vance, who said he was unsure of the details of the episode, reserved further comment at a news conference on visa fraud.

But the vice president said he was generally uncomfortable with paid access systems.

“Of course I don’t like anyone selling access to another government official, and certainly to a high-ranking government official,” he said.

“But you know, I assume you’re talking about a specific case, and I can’t say for sure that the case you’re talking about actually reflects the way you describe it,” he added.

According to the Journal, the donor, Eric Deters, had requested Guilfoyle’s help to “bring certain personal tax and legal issues to the attention of the incoming Trump administration.”

“Honey, please, I need you to do this for me today,” Guilfoyle texted Deters days before his confirmation hearing, according to the Journal. Deters did not make the payment, the newspaper reported.

Guilfoyle was with Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Greece and delivered a major policy speech this week.

Asked about the Journal’s report earlier Thursday, Rubio declined to comment.

“You walk around thinking that because a source told you something and you reported it, that’s the gospel. That’s not the gospel. That’s not the gospel to me. That’s not how we do things,” Rubio said before boarding his plane to leave the country, as Guilfoyle looked on.

Guilfoyle was appointed to the position in Athens by President Donald Trump in December 2024, before taking office.

She had been engaged to Donald Trump Jr. and is close to the Trump family.

Guilfoyle is a former co-host of “The Five” on Fox News and served as an assistant prosecutor in the San Francisco and Los Angeles district attorneys’ offices before beginning her media career.

She abruptly left her position at Fox News in July 2018 and later served as finance chair for the Trump campaign during his 2020 presidential bid. She then became a key witness to the events leading up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and met with the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection in 2022. In addition to her role in the Trump campaign, Guilfoyle also helped to raise money for organizers of the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally.

This is a developing story and will be updated.