Secretary of State Marco Rubio exploded on reporters Thursday when they pressed him about a bombshell report involving President Donald Trump’s U.S. Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Guilfoyle stood nearby as Rubio angrily shut down questions before leaving Athens, accusing reporters of treating their sources’ claims like “the gospel.”
The new report from The Wall Street Journal details astounding messages between Don Trump Jr.’s ex-fiancée and a wealthy MAGA supporter. It alleges Guilfoyle asked GOP donor Eric Deters to cover a $100,000 credit card bill and offered access to administration officials in return.
But Rubio had no intention of explaining any of it on the tarmac. He said he had not had the chance to examine the report.
“Guys, I’m not playing this game with you, OK?” he said. “You guys write a story and then your editors tell you, ‘make sure you get a comment from him’ on something we haven’t seen. OK? You guys are not going to be our only source of information in the world. I’m sorry to tell you that. And so I want you to understand, no, that’s not the way the process is going to work.”
When a reporter asked how the process would work, Rubio grew more pointed.
“Well, first of all, the process doesn’t work like this. We don’t conduct these things at a press conference on a tarmac in a foreign country because you wrote a story or somebody else wrote a story because some source gave it to you. So get that out of your head because that’s never the way it’s gonna work with me.”
He added: “You guys somehow walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it. It’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do it.”
Rubio’s angry response comes as Guilfoyle faces questions about the alleged messages and her dealings with Deters.
The news outlet says Guilfoyle begged Deters to put $100,000 on her American Express card right before her Senate confirmation hearing in July 2025.
The WSJ reviewed messages Guilfoyle sent Deters over Signal. Deters apparently hoped Guilfoyle could help him with tax and legal issues, according to the report. He is a former attorney, businessman, and conservative radio host.
She was also apparently worried about leaving a paper trail.
“Honey please I need you to get this done for me today,” Guilfoyle reportedly wrote.
She later added, “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express. Please.”
In the end, Deters, who had already paid Guilfoyle hundreds of thousands of dollars, did not pay her credit card bill. The Journal reported that he was worried his wife would leave him if he did.
He sent her a message writing, “I have paid you $300,000 over the years.” Then added, “As of this memo, I have not received one favor. I am not naïve or a sucker. I need results.”
She quickly responded, telling him to “stop papering all these things. It’s really dangerous.”
“Just call me on Signal,” she added.
Signal is a free, encrypted messaging app developed by the nonprofit Signal Foundation.
The report also says the former Fox News host allegedly reached out to government officials on his behalf.
Her attorney questioned the authenticity of the Signal messages, according to Mediaite, but did not say which ones were false. A U.S. Embassy official also defended her, the outlet reported, saying the ambassador “remains committed to representing the American people with dedication and integrity.”
Then Thursday, Deters, appearing on MS NOW’s “State of Play,” called Guilfoyle “a grifter” and an “evil person,” The Daily Beast reported.
“Kimberly Guilfoyle is a grifter. Kimberly Guilfoyle, I have no doubt, has done this to more than me. She’s doing it right now in Greece,” Deters said.
Deters also accused other Trump administration officials of using “quid pro quo” tactics.
“I know Corey Lewandowski did this stuff. I know Kristi Noem did this stuff,” he said, referring to the former Trump adviser and former Secretary of Homeland Security, respectively.
As he grew angrier, Deters said he reached out to fellow Kentuckian House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, the Beast reported, to request congressional hearings into Guilfoyle.
“I cannot stand Kimberly Guilfoyle. Kimberly Guilfoyle is a wicked, evil person. She thought I was gonna be a sucker, and I’m not a sucker,” an animated Deters emphasized before adding, “I am a good dude.”
Deters said during his MS NOW interview that he didn’t ask Guilfoyle for help with legal and tax problems. He said he was trying to get a doctor who fled to Pakistan extradited back to the U.S. He said the doctor had fraudulently performed hundreds of needless operations, and he was pursuing a criminal case against him.
The growing scandal is reverberating across social media.
“This is truly a golden age of corruption,” an X user noted.
Another agreed, “If you’re begging someone to stop putting things in writing over a text message, then you’ve already lost the game, like the absolute irony of typing out a plea for secrecy on an encrypted network is just hilarious.”
This poster pointed out what critics call the obvious: “Trump only wants criminals around him that are greedy and don’t care about the American people.”
Another comment might be funny if it didn’t seem to be so true.
“Our entire government is a reality TV show.”
