While the first (and last!) press briefing of Katie Zacharia on October 13 will go down in history as the reason for someone holding the shortest stint ever as White House Press Secretary, another reason why it was memorable was that it announced to the world that the Trump administration had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. Ambassador to Greece, to resign amid allegations of corruption and misconduct. Ms. Zacharia made the announcement and stated that the Ambassador “has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well”. Shortly after, Ms. Guilfoyle announced her resignation on X, stating that she “will forever be grateful to President Donald J. Trump” for the opportunity and addressed the allegations against her as “false”. She emphasised that she intended “to vigorously defend” her reputation and her years of public service.

The resignation comes in the wake of a Wall Street Journal investigation, which claimed that Ms. Guilfoyle had asked Eric Deters, a top donor of the Trump administration and a former Congressional candidate, to help clear a massive American Express credit card bill of $1,00,000 (roughly ₹96 lakh) right before her confirmation hearing as Ambassador to Greece in 2025.

In return, she offered to influence Trump administration officials in Mr. Deters’s favour as he faced personal tax and legal issues. Ms. Guilfoyle has denied these allegations and said that the money was payment that was owed to her for certain public speaking engagements. An earlier investigation by the same outlet had alleged that the Ambassador was misusing her position by promoting a Greek construction firm called Aktor, newly emergent in the gas industry and backed by a Greek energy company, across the European Balkan states in the name of the vertical energy corridor. The vertical energy corridor project intends to diversify Europe’s energy basket and wean off its dependence on cheap Russian gas. The project aims to replace Russian gas with U.S. liquefied natural gas via the TransBalkan Pipeline.

The Pipeline, initially proposed to transport gas from Russia southwards towards Turkiye, has now been repurposed for reverse flow, wherein gas from the U.S., which will be imported to Greece, will flow northwards through the Balkan states to Ukraine. The corridor is among the U.S.’s major priorities in Europe, with Ms. Guilfoyle being one of its most prominent advocates. However, promoting one singular company as a government official is highly irregular, as it signals prioritising private interests over national priorities. The WSJ alleged that since November 2025, Aktor’s joint venture with the state-backed energy corporation has signed MoUs and commercial agreements with gas companies in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Romania.

Other allegations against the former Ambassador involve accepting improper gifts and services from Aktor and other private parties, and threatening government officials by claiming that the U.S. was involved in the ouster of the Romanian government and could do the same in Greece if things did not go as Mr. Trump planned.

Following such accusations, Democrats had called for a review into the conduct of the, now former, Greece Ambassador.

Flamboyant rise

Ms. Guilfoyle is part of the new cohort of Trump officials who, taking a leaf out of his own book, combine politics, celebrity and business all in one. With 1.9 million followers on Instagram and a personal stylist always at the ready, Ms. Guilfoyle has been associated with multiple businesses, particularly in the beauty and wellness industry. She even founded a spirits branding company called American Dream Corp, which has now been dissolved.

However, once upon a time, Ms. Guilfoyle was a practising lawyer and married to Gavin Newsom, who is now California Governor and, as per observers, one of the frontrunners to be the Democratic candidate for the 2028 presidential election. After her divorce from Mr. Newsom in 2006, the former prosecutor entered the media landscape by joining conservative TV news network Fox News, hosting their show, ‘The Five’.

While her stint at Fox News established her as an up-and-coming conservative voice, her entry into the inner circle of Mr. Trump was accelerated when she started dating his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., in 2018, during the time of Mr. Trump’s first presidency. Through their relationship, Ms. Guilfoyle became one of Mr. Trump’s ardent loyalists. She was heavily involved in his fundraising campaign during the 2018 midterms, and later took on a more formal role as the chair of Mr. Trump finance committee for his second presidential bid in 2020. This obviously brought her in proximity to top GOP donors and sympathisers. After her relationship with the eldest Trump member fell through, Mr. Trump chose her as his envoy to Greece which was approved in July 2025.

While the official narrative was that the former Ambassador had left Fox News to take a more proactive role in Trump’s electoral campaign, several media reports claimed that Ms. Guilfoyle was asked to resign by the news channel, following various sexual harassment complaints. The New Yorker alleged that Ms. Guilfoyle engaged in workplace impropriety by “displaying lewd pictures of male genitalia to colleagues”. The outlet alleged that the issue was solved by a hefty out-of-court settlement involving more than $4 million. Ms. Guilfoyle had, at the time, denied all allegations.

While domestically, the scandal might not make a major dent, its ripples are being felt across diplomatic channels. The main Opposition party in Greece, PASOK, has called on the Greek government to clarify its position with respect to the allegations against the former U.S. Ambassador and has questioned whether they have sought an official explanation from the U.S.

The road ahead for Ms. Guilfoyle does not look as flamboyant as it used to.

Published – October 18, 2026 01:31 am IST

White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was “let go” from the role, a White House official said on Friday (October 16, 2026), after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had asked her to reconsider the position following public scrutiny.

The move comes after Ms. Zacharia faced questions over her legal credentials. On Thursday (October 15, 2026), she appeared to acknowledge that she had not passed the bar examination, while maintaining that she had accurately described herself as a “lawyer”.

Who is Katie Zacharia?

Katie Zacharia, a communications adviser for President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, was offered the position of White House Press Secretary following Karoline Leavitt’s departure in August 2026.

Mr. Trump announced on Friday (October 9, 2026) that Ms. Zacharia would succeed Ms. Leavitt as White House Press Secretary.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump described Ms. Zacharia as “a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning”. He said she had worked on his presidential campaigns, particularly in key battleground states.

Ms. Zacharia briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security before leaving in March 2026. She has also appeared as a commentator on Fox News and Newsmax. According to her LinkedIn profile, she serves as a senior communications adviser to Truth Social and Trump Media & Technology Group.

She previously worked as a legal adviser for Fix California, a conservative organisation that says it seeks to challenge what it describes as “the left’s stranglehold” on California politics. The group was founded by Richard Grenell, who has served as Mr. Trump’s envoy to Venezuela and is the interim president and executive director of the Kennedy Centre in Washington.

Questions over legal credentials

Ms. Zacharia faced questions on Wednesday (October 14, 2026) about her legal career before becoming the top spokesperson for President Trump.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she earned a law degree from Pepperdine University. She has said she practised law before entering politics, and Mr. Trump has referred to her as an attorney.

Ms. Zacharia has described herself as a “lawyer” during television appearances and on social media. She also listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative non-profit organisation.

However, there is no evidence that the 41-year-old has passed a bar examination, a requirement for obtaining a licence to practise law in the United States after graduating from law school.

Stint at law firm in Beijing

Ms. Zacharia worked as an associate at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from 2011 to 2013 and served as general counsel at Fix California, an advocacy group founded by Mr. Trump’s ally Ric Grenell, from 2024 to 2025, according to her LinkedIn profile.

During her first press briefing on Tuesday (October 13, 2026), she took questions from only three reporters before ending the briefing in less than 15 minutes. Her performance drew criticism from some media commentators and political analysts, although Mr. Trump later said: “I thought she was very good.”

According to the Pepperdine University, Ms. Zacharia earned her law degree in 2011. While most licensed U.S. lawyers first obtain a law degree, graduates cannot legally practise law without being admitted to a State bar.

Bar exam claim under scrutiny

Asked during Tuesday’s (October 13, 2026) briefing where she had passed the bar examination, Ms. Zacharia replied, “When I moved to China.” Ms. Zacharia worked at a major Chinese law firm in Beijing. Under Chinese law, practising lawyers must be Chinese nationals. Foreign nationals may offer legal consultancy services but cannot practise law in China.

She said she did not sit the examination again after returning to the United States because she was raising her first child.

She said that “many people in the field” had assured her that she could “label myself a lawyer, not attorney at law…and provide legal analysis, not legal advice”, given her law degree and experience in business law gained in China. “I was very careful how I executed this,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Campaign for Accountability, a political ethics organisation, called on the California Bar Association on Wednesday (October 14, 2026) to investigate the matter. “In California, calling yourself a lawyer without a licence isn’t puffery; it’s a crime,” the organisation said in a statement.

Exit from White House

Following the controversy, Mr. Trump said he had advised Ms. Zacharia to reconsider the role. She is now leaving the post just days after taking office on Monday (October 12, 2026).

Confirming her departure in a post on X, Ms. Zacharia said it had been “an honour” to serve as White House Press Secretary. She praised Mr. Trump, describing him as “kind” and saying she “wished more Americans appreciated him”.

“I told her: ‘I think you’re better off being happy, and I’m not sure you can ever be happy in this job. There’s nothing easy about it,’” Mr. Trump told reporters before departing the White House.

He added, “I said to her honestly, ‘If I were you, I’d reconsider. Think about it. But I would reconsider.’”

Fox News, citing a White House official, later reported that Ms. Zacharia was “transitioning” out of the role of Press Secretary.

Published – October 17, 2026 12:53 pm IST

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia. File
| Photo Credit: AP

File image of Katie Zacharia. Photo: X/@KatieZacharia