Guilfoyle's requested departure came after its possibility was previewed to AP over the weekend and Trump registered his unhappiness with reports about her alleged conduct on Monday.
The White House says US President Donald Trump has asked his ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, to resign after she came under severe criticism over allegations of improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens.
New White House Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia, disclosed this on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
Guilfoyle's requested departure came after its possibility was previewed to AP over the weekend and Trump registered his unhappiness with reports about her alleged conduct on Monday.
"Well, we're looking at it," Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he was considering firing Guilfoyle. "We're not happy."
The comments came a day after AP, citing a senior US official, reported that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were "extremely pissed off" by Guilfoyle's reported conduct and would likely decide on her future this week.
Zacharia, in her first press briefing, said Guilfoyle "has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well."
It was not immediately clear if Guilfoyle had resigned.
In a series of stories dating to late last month, The Wall Street Journal has reported questionable conduct by Guilfoyle, including an alleged threat to a host country official, accepting improper gifts and services, and offering to use her influence inside the administration in return for the payment of a large credit card bill.
Guilfoyle has not addressed the reports directly. However, in a statement released late Sunday, her lawyers, David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, denied that she had done anything wrong.
They claimed that the money she was seeking from the Trump donor was payment for services, including public appearances and speaking engagements that predate her ambassadorial nomination, which had not been paid.
The lawyers also rejected allegations of impropriety related to her travel on private planes, saying that before every such trip she "sought, obtained and followed State Department guidance and followed the Department's travel regulations."
Rubio Defended Guilfoyle, Berated Journalists
After defending Guilfoyle following the first report, Rubio has declined to comment publicly on the growing allegations. Last week, he said, "Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here."
But after another report appeared later, Rubio on Thursday, before leaving Athens, berated journalists for asking about the allegations, saying he did not know if they were true and that he would not respond if he could not confirm them.
"You guys 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 things," Rubio said at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart, looked on.
A second US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the State Department's inspector general is looking into the allegations, which first surfaced in the Journal late last month and have since multiplied.
The official could not say if a formal IG probe had begun. Inspectors general often conduct informal inquiries into complaints against staffers, many of which do not result in a full investigation that can lead to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
The State Department has declined to comment on a potential IG investigation.
The top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Robert Garcia of California, have called for an investigation into Guilfoyle.
Since late September, the Journal has detailed numerous accounts of questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. Its first report said she told guests at a reception that the US could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of a particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.
While Rubio was in Athens, the Journal reported, citing text messages, that Guilfoyle asked a Trump donor and supporter to pay a $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did.
The Journal also reported that she was enraged about not being invited to a Greek-themed event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year, and demanded to attend while boasting about luxury travel to France with energy company executives.
Another report, by the British tabloid, The Daily Mail, said Guilfoyle had alienated staff at the US Embassy in Athens and pushed the bounds of behaviour appropriate for the top US representative to Greece.
Guilfoyle is a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor. She was once married to California Governor Gavin Newsom and was engaged to Trump's son, Donald Jr.
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