Washington, Oct 13 — US President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed that Kimberly Guilfoyle will not stay on as US Ambassador to Greece, saying he "didn't like what I read", hours after the White House said it had asked her to resign.
"I didn't speak to her, no. But she will not be there. I didn't like what I read," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One for a campaign trip to Alaska.
"She went to Greece. She was doing a good job, but we didn't like what we were reading," he said.
Asked about Guilfoyle being almost a member of his family, Trump said she was not. "She, I guess, dated my son a long time ago," he said.
Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr.
Earlier in the day, new White House Press Secretary Zacharia told her first briefing: "We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign."
Trump did not say who would replace Guilfoyle or when she would leave.
Trump also said the US had not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, a question Zacharia had said earlier she would "have to get back to you on".
"Have we stopped sharing intel with Ukraine? No, we haven't," Trump said.
"We help them, but we're really helping them get to a final answer. We want the war to end," he said. "We are helping them, and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end, so we're working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end."
Asked why he was confident that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted the war to end, Trump said: "Only in dealing. That's what I've done my whole life is deals."
"Honestly, they both want it to end, and they don't know how to get to that point. There's a lot of hatred there between the two of them," he said. "We're going to get them there."
Asked about Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, Trump said: "Ukraine hit many sites the day before. I'll let you know about that later. But they're hitting each other. But it'll all come to an end." [
Trump defended his Russian diesel deal, which is being watched closely by India and other buyers of Russian oil.
"It's a deal for the world. It's not a deal for us. It's a way of getting a lot of oil out to the world," he said. "It's a deal for the world, and it brought down prices."
Twelve US senators, including former Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senate India Caucus co-chair John Cornyn, wrote to Trump on Tuesday urged him to rescind the deal, calling it "a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies".
On Iran, Trump said: "Iran is a failed country. They have no economy. They have 300 per cent inflation."
Asked what he had offered Saudi Arabia, he said: "I can't tell you that."
He said Yemen's Houthis "have acted very badly", but did not say whether he had decided on strikes.
With midterm elections three weeks away, Trump rated the chances of Republicans keeping the House or the Senate as "equal".
He said Ohio Senate candidate had gone up "nine points" after his rally. "I'm right now going to Alaska to try and help Dan Sullivan," he said. "I'm doing, on average, a rally a day."
After Trump walked away, Zacharia stood by the rope line but did not come over to take questions when a reporter asked. She later crossed the lawn to board the helicopter with White House staff.