With Kimberly Guilfoyle fired, Long Island businessman and former ambassador to Greece George Tsunis calls job critical

WASHINGTON — With Trump ally Kimberly Guilfoyle forced to step down from the post of U.S. ambassador to Greece this week amid growing allegations of misconduct, her predecessor, Long Island businessman George Tsunis, said the role is a critical one to fill for national security interests.

Tsunis, a Locust Valley Democrat who served as ambassador to the Mediterranean nation under President Joe Biden, declined to weigh in on the allegations surrounding Guilfoyle in a brief phone interview with Newsday, including claims that she asked a top GOP donor to pay her $100,000 credit card bill. But Tsunis emphasized it was important for the United States to maintain a stable diplomatic presence in Greece.

“Greece and the United States have a sacred obligation, if not a compact, to protect democracy as democracy has backslid across the world,” Tsunis said when asked about the importance of the job. “The United States and Greece are beacons.”

Tsunis, the son of Greek immigrants, who served as ambassador from 2022 to 2025, said the U.S. Embassy in Athens employs more than 400 U.S. workers and the ambassador role requires maintaining close ties with an “essential partner" in Europe.

“Greece secures the southeastern flank of NATO,” Tsunis said, referring to the 32 countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “Greece is our most reliable, most capable ally in the region. They're the ones that we can count on. We have an outstanding relationship.”

Tsunis attended Guilfoyle’s Senate confirmation hearing in July 2025 in a show of support, and left behind briefing books to aid with her transition, but he did not want to comment on his successor as she confronts allegations she solicited payments from a Trump donor in exchange for access to administration officials.

Guilfoyle also has been accused of living a lavish lifestyle overseas funded by Greek tycoons who flew her on private jets to the Swiss Alps, Paris and Davos, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

Guilfoyle has pushed back against the allegations, calling them "false." Her Long Island-based attorney David M. Schwartz, of Roslyn, told Newsday his client will be vindicated.

“She's going to take some time out to figure things out, and she will, because she's highly talented, and she's a real force,” said Schwartz, who said he has known Guilfoyle since both appeared on the Court TV cable network in the early 2000s. “I look forward to watching what's next on her journey.”

Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host who dated the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., for six years, resigned Tuesday after Trump called on her to step down. Newly appointed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia made the announcement at her inaugural news briefing, telling reporters: “We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team and we wish her well.”

President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters just an hour later, said “she was doing a good job, but we didn't like what we were reading.”

The White House and State Department did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday on the time frame for filling Guilfoyle’s vacancy, or on potential nominees for the position.

Manhattan billionaire John Catsimatidis, who owns the WABC-AM talk-radio station and maintains a home in Southampton, was among the prominent Greek Americans in the audience for Guilfoyle’s confirmation hearing. A longtime Trump ally, he told Newsday in a text message he has “zero interest” in vying for the post.

A spokesperson for Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island), the daughter of a Greek immigrant father and Cuban-born mother, dismissed the idea of her being considered for the role, telling Newsday in an email “the Congresswoman is focused on her reelection.” She is vice co-chair of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus.

Tsunis is no stranger to the scrutiny ambassador nominees face — in 2013, he withdrew his nomination to serve as ambassador to Norway under President Barack Obama after a grueling confirmation hearing where he was criticized for flubbing questions about the country. In 2022, he garnered bipartisan praise at his confirmation hearing.

Whoever is the next ambassador, Tsunis said, they inherit a diplomatic relationship that has weathered political changes in both countries.

“Over the last three presidents of two different parties, and over the last five Greek prime ministers of three different political parties, the U.S.-Greek relationship has only strengthened and deepened, and that will not change,” Tsunis said.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.