People who spoke with Trump told the Wall Street Journal he was annoyed by how brazen the accusations against Guilfoyle appeared and troubled that she was making money off his presidency. Two people close to Trump told Politico her ouster came down to bad press fueling a narrative of corruption, with one warning that the firing "created a feeding frenzy" as other top advisers face scrutiny over monetizing government service. Meanwhile, the Daily Beast and Daily Mail reported that insiders claim Guilfoyle kept a secret "burn book" of Trump family secrets and is threatening to bring the family down following her exit.
Guilfoyle resigned Tuesday after reports that she pressed Trump donor Eric Deters to wire $100,000 directly to American Express to pay off her credit card bill ahead of her July 2025 confirmation hearing in exchange for administration access, and boasted at Davos in January of private jet and luxury hotel travel funded by Greek businessmen Alexandros Exarchou and Nikolas Tsakos. Daily Mail reporter Elina Shirazi also reported Tuesday that Guilfoyle solicited a $250,000 car loan payment from wealthy Greek businessmen in mid 2025 to pay off her Mercedes G-Wagon. Guilfoyle called the allegations against her "false" in her departure statement, and White House officials rejected her earlier claims that the $100,000 text messages were generated by AI.