Kimberly Guilfoyle’s high-profile push to expand American energy sales across southeastern Europe is drawing new scrutiny over a businessman who has repeatedly appeared at her side.
Christos Marafatsos, a 39-year-old Greek-American businessman and registered lobbyist, has accompanied the U.S. ambassador to Greece to multiple high-level meetings despite holding no official role in the U.S. government, according to a new Wall Street Journal investigation.
The unusual access matters because Marafatsos also works for Aktor, a Greek infrastructure and energy conglomerate that has emerged as a major player in the Trump administration’s effort to expand U.S. liquefied natural gas exports into the Balkans.
Aktor recently became involved in a roughly $6 billion, 20-year agreement to supply U.S. LNG to Albania through its American subsidiary.
The agreement, involving Venture Global and Albania’s state gas company, was publicly celebrated by Guilfoyle as a major step toward reducing regional dependence on Russian energy.
“I was honored to travel to Tirana to advance the U.S. President’s energy agenda,” Guilfoyle said when the deal was signed in April.
She described the agreement as strengthening both “energy security” and “national security” across the region.
The issue now being raised is not whether promoting American LNG is legitimate U.S. policy.
It plainly is.
The Trump administration has made increased U.S. energy exports and reduced European dependence on Russian gas explicit foreign-policy goals.
The question is why a private lobbyist representing a company positioned to benefit from that policy has been so frequently present alongside the ambassador during meetings with foreign officials.
According to the Journal, Marafatsos accompanied Guilfoyle to meetings in Greece, Bulgaria and elsewhere in southeastern Europe.
Some foreign officials reportedly assumed he was part of her official team.
Several people who met the pair told the newspaper that Marafatsos did not disclose during those encounters that he represented Aktor.
That distinction has drawn concern from former U.S. diplomats.
Robin Brooks, a former Foreign Service officer who served as National Security Council director for the Balkans and Central Europe during the Biden administration, told the Journal that bringing a private lobbyist into meetings with foreign governments can create questions over whose interests are being represented.
Such access, she argued, can blur the line between advancing U.S. foreign policy and advancing a private company’s commercial interests.
No finding of wrongdoing has been made.
Guilfoyle’s representatives, Marafatsos and Aktor have all rejected suggestions that the ambassador improperly promoted the company.
The U.S. Embassy said Guilfoyle’s travel and meetings complied with State Department guidance and were intended to advance American energy policy.
Her lawyer also said meetings were coordinated through official embassy channels, not through Marafatsos.
Aktor likewise says its involvement in the regional energy market began before Guilfoyle’s relationship with the company became a focus of scrutiny.
The company argues that it is a logical partner for U.S. policy because it does not rely on Russian gas and is positioned to help move American LNG northward through the Balkans.
That regional project is known as the Vertical Gas Corridor.
The concept is to bring LNG into Greece and transport it through interconnected pipelines toward Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and other countries.
Washington has supported the broader strategy as part of its effort to reshape European energy supply after years of dependence on Russian natural gas.
Aktor has rapidly expanded its role in that emerging market.
Its U.S. subsidiary signed the Albanian LNG arrangement in April, with deliveries expected to eventually reach roughly one billion cubic meters of gas annually.
The Journal also reported that Marafatsos has received substantial payments for lobbying work connected to Aktor.
TMZ, citing the investigation, reported payments totaling about $160,000.
His role has been particularly noticeable because of how closely he has appeared alongside Guilfoyle.
At one recent conference in Thessaloniki, the two reportedly arrived together in a black BMW at the front of a U.S. diplomatic motorcade.
He has also reportedly helped prepare Guilfoyle for meetings and public appearances, and assisted before her Senate confirmation hearing.
Marafatsos has defended his activities, saying he is proud to support projects that strengthen U.S.-Greek ties and create economic opportunities in southeastern Europe.
His lawyer has disputed elements of the reporting.
The controversy comes less than a year after Guilfoyle arrived in Athens as one of Trump’s most recognizable diplomatic appointments.
Trump nominated the former Fox News personality and longtime political ally in December 2024, praising her as someone capable of strengthening relations with Greece across defense, trade and economic issues.
Guilfoyle had previously been engaged to Donald Trump Jr., making her appointment especially high-profile from the beginning.
Since assuming the diplomatic role, she has embraced energy policy as one of her most visible priorities.
That has included frequent travel, appearances with regional leaders and enthusiastic promotion of U.S. LNG deals.
The new scrutiny does not establish that those efforts were improper.
Nor does Marafatsos’ presence at diplomatic meetings, by itself, prove that any official decision was made to benefit Aktor.
But it does raise a straightforward transparency question.
When a private lobbyist repeatedly appears beside a U.S. ambassador during negotiations involving an industry in which his client stands to make substantial money, foreign officials need to know exactly whom he represents.
That is the heart of the controversy now surrounding Guilfoyle.
The mystery is not really why Marafatsos has been standing beside her.
The more consequential question is what role he was playing when he was there.
