Kimberly Guilfoyle | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Guilfoyle in 2024 | |
| United States Ambassador to Greece Nominee | |
| Assuming office TBD | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Succeeding | George James Tsunis |
| First Lady ofSan Francisco | |
| In role January 8, 2004 – February 28, 2006 | |
| Mayor | Gavin Newsom |
| Preceded by | Blanche Vitero |
| Succeeded by | Jennifer Siebel Newsom (2008) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle (1969-03-09)March 9, 1969 (age 56)[1] San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Domestic partner | Donald Trump Jr. (2018–2024) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | |
| Occupation |
|
Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle (/ˈɡɪlfɔɪl/GHIL-foyl; born March 9, 1969) is an American television news personality and formerprosecutor in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She served as an advisor and led the fundraising division of PresidentDonald Trump's2020 presidential campaign, and is the nominee forU.S. ambassador to Greece in PresidentDonald Trump'ssecond term.
Guilfoyle studied atUniversity of California, Davis, and theUniversity of San Francisco School of Law, where she earned aJ.D. degree. She became a prosecuting attorney in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. She was an assistant district attorney in San Francisco from 2000 to 2004. From 2001 to 2006, she was married to Democratic politicianGavin Newsom, and wasfirst lady of San Francisco during Newsom's first two years as mayor of that city. She was the fiancée ofDonald Trump Jr. from 2021 until they separated late in 2024.[2]
Guilfoyle worked atFox News from 2006 to 2018, and co-hostedThe Five on the network.[3][4] She later joinedAmerica First Policies, a pro-Trumpsuper PAC, to campaign for Republicans in the2018 midterm elections.[5][6] On December 10, 2024, then President-elect Trump nominated her as theU.S. ambassador to Greece.[7]
Guilfoyle was born in San Francisco on March 9, 1969. Her mother wasPuerto Rican and her father was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States at the age of 20. She was raisedCatholic.[8] She grew up in theMission District of San Francisco and inWestlake, Daly City.[9]
Guilfoyle's mother, Mercedes, taught special education. She died ofleukemia when Guilfoyle was 11.[10] Her father, Anthony "Tony" Guilfoyle, was born inEnnis,County Clare, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1957 at the age of 20.[11] In 1958, while still anIrish citizen, he was drafted and spent four years in theU.S. Army.[9] After being discharged from the army, Tony Guilfoyle took up work in the construction trades. He later became a real estate investor. Until his death in 2008, he was a close advisor to his son-in-lawGavin Newsom, who was San Francisco mayor.[12][13]
Guilfoyle graduated from San Francisco'sMercy High School,[9][14] and then theUniversity of California, Davis. She received herJuris Doctor from theUniversity of San Francisco School of Law in 1994. While in law school, she interned at the San Francisco district attorney's office. She also was a lingerie and fashion model, being featured in local department stores advertising campaigns (including forMacy's) and modelingVictoria's Secret lingerie for a bridal magazine.[15] She later studied atTrinity College Dublin in Ireland. While there, Guilfoyle published research in international children's rights and European Economic Community law.[16]
After law school, Guilfoyle taught in a public school district[9] and briefly worked as aprosecutor in San Francisco. She lost her job in 1996 whenTerence Hallinan was electeddistrict attorney and fired 14 of the city's prosecutors.[17] Guilfoyle worked for four years inLos Angeles as a deputy district attorney, serving on adult and juvenile cases. She received several awards at the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, including Prosecutor of the Month.[16]
In 2000, Guilfoyle was rehired by Hallinan in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, where she was an assistant district attorney from 2000 to 2004. During this time she obtained a conviction while co-prosecuting with James Hammer in the 2002 casePeople v. Noel and Knoller, a second-degree murder trial involving a dog mauling, which received international attention.[18][19]
In 2003, by which time her then-husband Gavin Newsom was thefront-running candidate in the2003 San Francisco mayoral election, Guilfoyle publicly accused her fellow assistant DAKamala Harris (who was running in the 2003 election for district attorney) of being unwelcoming towards her. This accusation stemmed from a period years earlier, during Guilfoyle's re-hiring at the San Francisco district attorney's office. Harris denied this accusation. Guilfoyle did provide positive comments on Harris' qualifications for office; she described Harris as someone that would "work very hard" if elected district attorney, as well as being "very smart" and "a good speaker".[20]
In 1995, Guilfoyle worked on the reelection campaign of district attorneyArlo Smith. Around this time, she was also a regular fixture at political fundraisers organized by oil billionaireGordon Getty, whose son William she dated. (It is not publicly known what the timeline is on Guilfoyle's relationship with Billy Getty.[21])[15]
.JPG)
.jpg)
In January 2004, Guilfoyle moved to New York to host the programBoth Sides onCourt TV. In addition, she worked as a legal analyst onAnderson Cooper 360°.[22] She joined Fox News in February 2006 as host of the weekend showThe Lineup. This was eventually canceled. Guilfoyle remained a regular contributor for the network, and in 2011 was picked as co-host ofThe Five. She worked as a host on the show until 2018.[23]
In 2014, she began hosting and then co-hostingOutnumbered for nearly fifty episodes, plus a few more appearances until June 2018.[24] Guilfoyle also appeared weekly on the recurring segment "Is It Legal?" onThe O'Reilly Factor until that show was canceled in 2017, and as a weekly Thursday guest onBrian Kilmeade'sKilmeade and Friends radio show.[16] Guilfoyle guest-hostedHannity,On the Record,Justice with Judge Jeanine, andFox & Friends.[25]
In mid-2017, Guilfoyle signed a long-term contract extension with Fox.[26] A year later, in July 2018, Guilfoyle abruptly left Fox News;[27] she began working for a pro–Donald Trump super PAC.[28][29]HuffPost reported that, at the time of her departure, the network had been in the midst of a year-long investigation of a sexual harassment accusation against Guilfoyle. Network officials had given Guilfoyle an ultimatum: Resign by the end of July or be fired.[28]The New Yorker subsequently corroborated reports that Guilfoyle had been forced to resign rather than leaving by choice.[30]
After Guilfoyle left, Fox News agreed to an out-of-court settlement with an assistant who had accused Guilfoyle of sexual harassment. Terms were not disclosed.The New Yorker reported that the settlement was at least $4 million.[30] The assistant alleged that Guilfoyle frequently displayed herself naked, showed photographs of the genitalia of men she had sex with, and required her to sleep over at Guilfoyle's apartment.[30]The New Yorker independently verified several of the assistant's allegations.[30]
In 2015, Guilfoyle published a semi-autobiographical advice book published by HarperCollins, titledMaking the Case: How to Be Your Own Best Advocate, on her experiences growing up, working as a prosecutor, and encouraging people to advocate for themselves.[31]
In April 2024, Guilfoyle announced the upcoming publication ofThe Princess and her Pup, achildren's book that she has authored.[32] Ten percent of its sales are slated to benefit annonprofit dedicated toanimal welfare.[33]
In December 2016, it was reported that Guilfoyle was being considered for the position of press secretary for the 45th United States president Donald Trump.Sean Spicer was considered the front-runner for the position,[34] and was ultimately selected. On the May 12, 2017, edition ofThe Five, co-hostBob Beckel hinted that Guilfoyle turned the job down. In an interview withBay Area News Group on May 15, 2017, Guilfoyle confirmed she was in contact with the White House about the position following Spicer's resignation. She said:
I'm a patriot, and it would be an honor to serve the country. I think it'd be a fascinating job, it's a challenging job, and you need someone really determined and focused, a great communicator in there with deep knowledge to be able to handle that position.[35][36]
On May 19, Guilfoyle said she was under contract with Fox, indicating she turned the White House down. One month later, she extended her contract with Fox.[37]
In 2018,The Washington Post described Guilfoyle as a "conservative cheerleader for President Trump".[38] In 2019, Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. jointly toured school campuses, invited by venues such as theUniversity of Florida, where they were paid $50,000 for their appearance from student activity fees, which led to complaints by anti-Trump students. At the event, two people were arrested and five were injured. Two years earlier, white nationalistRichard B. Spencer had preceded them as an invited speaker, generating similar controversy.[39][40]
In 2020, Guilfoyle was reported to be the chair of the finance committee of theTrump Victory Committee.[41] As of early 2020, the Trump campaign was secretly paying Guilfoyle $15,000 per month through the campaign manager's private company,Parscale Strategy. Guilfoyle served as a surrogate on the stump and took on broad advisory roles.[42][43] In theTrump 2020 campaign, Guilfoyle managed a fund-raising division. This division paid socialite Somers Farkas to raise money.[44] The fundraising division managed by Guilfoyle was in internal turmoil amid departures of experienced staff and accusations of irresponsible spending.[45] In November 2020,Politico's reporting alleged that Guilfoyle had engaged in sexually explicit conversations during private Trump fundraisers that had made some attendees uncomfortable.Politico reported that many campaign insiders alleged that this was part of severehuman resources problems that plagued fundraising division, likely damaging the Trump campaign's ability to keep pace with the Biden campaign's fundraising.[46]
At theRepublican National Convention in August 2020, Guilfoyle gave a speech endorsing Trump that was widely described by some observers as unnecessarily loud,[47] or unhinged.[48][49] Others in media described it as passionate.[50] She was criticized for describing herself as a first-generation American when her mother was from Puerto Rico and thus an American citizen.[51] She is a first generation American on her father's side, as he immigrated to the United States from Ireland.[11]
On January 6, 2021, Guilfoyle joined Trump, Trump Jr.,Rudy Giuliani,Eric Trump, and others on theEllipse in Washington, D.C., to address the "Save America March". This resulted inthe attack on the Capitol.[52] Having raised millions of dollars to support the rally, Guilfoyle was also involved in organizing the protest at the Capitol.[53] She was paid $60,000 for her 2.5 minute rally speech.[54] Guilfoyle was featured in a video screened at the rally by Trump Jr., "break[ing] into the hip-shaking dance she's been showcasing at other recent pro-Trump rallies" and "tell[ing] Trump fans: 'Have the courage to do the right thing! Fight!'"[55]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Guilfoyle served on the platform committee of the2024 Republican National Convention.[56] Guilfoyle delivered a speech at the convention.[57] While the speech was delivered in a similar fashion to her derided 2020 convention speech, the 2024 convention featured an in-person audience that reacted receptively to her speech.[58]
On December 10, 2024, President-elect Trump nominated Guilfoyle as the nextUnited States Ambassador to Greece.[59][60]
.jpg)
Early into her work as a prosecutor in San Francisco, Guilfoyle briefly dated William Getty, a scion of theGetty family.[15] In December 2001, she married politicianGavin Newsom, then aSan Francisco city supervisor. The pair separated in 2004, and in January 2005, citing the strain of a bicoastal marriage, they jointly filed for divorce.[61] Their divorce was final on February 28, 2006,[62] by which time Guilfoyle was already expecting a child with furniture heirEric Villency.
On May 27, 2006, inBarbados, Guilfoyle married Villency.[63] On October 4, 2006, Guilfoyle gave birth to their son,[64] Ronan.[65] Guilfoyle and Villency divorced in November 2009.[66]
In June 2018,Vanessa Trump, who had filed for divorce fromDonald Trump Jr. three months earlier, confirmed that Guilfoyle was dating Trump.[67] In mid-2019, Guilfoyle and Trump jointly purchased a $4.4 million home inThe Hamptons. They sold it in March 2021 during theCOVID-19 pandemic for $8.14 million.[68][69] Also in March 2021, the couple jointly purchased a $9.7 million home inJupiter, Florida.[70] Guilfoyle and Trump became engaged on December 31, 2020. The news of the engagement were not made public until January 2022.[71] Since 2021, Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. cohabited in their Jupiter residence until it was put up for sale in 2025.[72][73] After news reports of Donald Trump Jr. dating another woman became public,[74][75] Guilfoyle and Trump mutually ended their romantic relationship (and marital engagement) late in 2024.[2][76]
Guilfoyle's 2017 departure from Fox News was due to alleged sexual harassment on her part.[28][30] Fox News later reached a settlement of at least $4 million with Guilfoyle's accuser.[30] The assistant alleged that Guilfoyle frequently displayed herself naked, showed photographs of the genitalia of men she had sex with, and required her to sleep over at Guilfoyle's apartment.[30]The New Yorker independently verified several of the assistant's allegations.[30]
Guilfoyle has also faced separate allegations of making sexually explicit comments at fundraisers. In 2004, it was reported that in speaking on behalf of then-husband, Gavin Newsom, at the Empire State Pride Agenda gay rights fundraiser, Guilfoyle boasted about his attractiveness and large penis size, and implied (throughinnuendo andpantomiming) that she was talented at providingoral sex. This was treated in San Francisco as a political controversy. Guilfoyle subsequently denied that her arm gestures were meant to be a sexually explicit pantomime.[77]
In November 2020,Politico's reporting alleged that Guilfoyle had engaged in sexually explicit conversations during private Trump fundraisers that had made some attendees uncomfortable, including explicit conversations involving Trump Jr., disclosing at a fall 2018 fundraiser that Trump Jr. liked her tocosplay as aDallas Cowboys cheerleader, making an offer at a December 2019 fundraiser to personally reward the event's top contributor with alap dance, and offering at a 2020 fundraiser to host ahot tub party for its top contributor. A Trump campaign spokesperson denied this, asserting that "in context" nothing about her remarks at fundraisers had been offensive.[46]
Guilfoyle was born in San Francisco on March 9, 1969.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, was recently named chair of the Trump Victory finance committee.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
