Trump Says He Is Considering Removing Ambassador Guilfoyle From Greece Post

A sitting president publicly signaling a possible ambassador removal places the diplomatic appointment in an ambiguous status that, under the Foreign Service Act of 1980, requires Senate...

President Donald Trump told reporters on October 12, 2026 that he is "looking at" removing Kimberly Guilfoyle from her position as U.S. Ambassador to Greece, according to CBS News. Trump's exact words, as reported, were: "Well, we're looking at it," in direct response to a question about whether he is considering the action.

Guilfoyle was nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate for the Greece ambassadorship. The date of her Senate confirmation and the vote tally are recorded in the Congressional Record and the Senate Executive Calendar. Her confirmation represented the formal constitutional process under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which grants the president the power to appoint ambassadors with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Under that same constitutional framework, the president retains unilateral authority to remove political appointees, including ambassadors, without a Senate vote. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. Chapter 52) governs the procedural requirements for the foreign service broadly, but presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the president. No separate congressional approval is required for removal.

Guilfoyle is a former Fox News host and was previously married to California Governor Gavin Newsom. She became publicly associated with Trump's political orbit through her relationship with Donald Trump Jr. Her appointment to Greece followed a pattern of presidents nominating political allies and donors to ambassadorial posts, a practice documented across administrations of both parties by the American Foreign Service Association, which has historically reported that roughly 30 percent of U.S. Ambassadorial appointments go to political nominees rather than career Foreign Service officers.

The White House has not issued a formal statement of removal as of the publication of this article. No notice of recall has been published in the Federal Register, which is the standard vehicle for official administrative actions. A recall notice or a new presidential nomination to the Greece post would constitute the formal record of any change in the ambassadorship.

Greece is a NATO member state and hosts U.S. Military assets, including Naval Support Activity Souda Bay on the island of Crete, which is documented in Department of Defense basing records. An ambassadorial vacancy or transition at a NATO ally post carries administrative implications for bilateral coordination, though the State Department's Deputy Chief of Mission in Athens would assume charge of the embassy in any interim period, per standard State Department protocol.

This is not the first time a Trump-era ambassador appointment has faced public uncertainty. The administration has publicly discussed or executed the removal of several ambassadors since January 2025. The specific grounds, if any, for a potential Guilfoyle removal have not been stated on the record by the White House or by any named administration official in the CBS News report.

Guilfoyle has not made a public statement responding to Trump's remarks as of the publication date of this article. The State Department has not issued a comment on the ambassador's status, according to the CBS News report. Whether a formal separation package, security clearance review, or transition timeline has been initiated is not documented in any public record currently available.

What remains unknown is whether Trump has issued any internal directive to the State Department regarding Guilfoyle's status, and what specific reason, if any, is driving the consideration. The document that would answer this is a State Department personnel action or a formal White House personnel memo, neither of which has been made public. A presidential nomination of a replacement to the Greece post, if filed, would appear in the Senate Executive Calendar and provide definitive confirmation that a change is underway.