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I hope you haven’t been worrying too much about Kimberly Guilfoyle, whose ex-fiancé, Donald Trump Jr., recently announced that he is engaged again, to a woman he appears to have started dating before most people, possibly including Guilfoyle herself, knew his previous relationship had ended. Despite the breakup and her subsequent combination promotion-banishment, Guilfoyle is thriving in her new role as the United States ambassador to Greece. Or at least, she has convinced the New York Times to write that she is thriving, and that’s almost as good as the real thing.
On Sunday, the Times published a “global profile” of Guilfoyle, calling her “the talk of Athens” in a headline. The Times describes this series as “a weekly profile of the individuals who are shaping the world around them,” though this week Guilfoyle seems to be sharing billing with a park ranger named Cindy Blaney, who the paper calls “one of Britain’s chief bat whisperers.” Clearly, there are many ways to shape the world.
Even though Guilfoyle isn’t the only international mistress of the night being highlighted, this head-turning story is nonetheless a public relations coup for Guilfoyle. She “has become one of the most important people in the country,” asserts the Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller. Some Greek officials seem to have nice things to say about her too, which is not surprising, given their professional obligation to stay on good terms with her. It seems it’s so far, so good in the job: To date, she has only been denounced by one other embassy in Athens (the Chinese embassy, for some comments she made about China’s control of a Greek port). She is very busy going to clubs, calling Greek ministers back at all hours of the night, and overseeing drilling in the Ionian Sea—what more could you ask for in an ambassador?
Meanwhile, Guilfoyle doesn’t say much about her ex-fiancé in the piece, just an “I’m happy for Don” and “I wish him, of course, all the best.” Of course! Though it’s hard to imagine that she doesn’t have any more piquant thoughts about whatever transpired in her relationship, she must wisely recognize that little good can come from talking about it.
Still, some cracks in that official story are clear: None other than Steve Bannon shows up in the article to dispel the idea that the Daily Mail publishing photographs of Don Jr. and socialite Bettina Anderson had anything to do with President Trump announcing her as his Greece ambassador pick shortly after. “I don’t buy that at all,” Bannon says, before going on to dispel exactly nothing. Guilfoyle tells the paper that what really happened is that “the president-elect called her and said that he knew she was interested in becoming ambassador to Greece and that the job was hers.” She says she was interested because she took an ancient history class in college, so, yeah, that ought to get people to stop speculating.
Listen, who cares how she got the job? It’s all looking up for her. According to the profile, Guilfoyle recently celebrated a win for more drilling in Greece with ExxonMobil (“America is back and drilling in the Ionian Sea,” she declared). She might be actively making the world a worse place, but you can’t deny that it sounds a lot better than being married to Don Jr.
