U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle is stirring memories of influence peddling in President Donald Trump's orbit, as reports spread of her alleged $100,000 shakedown of Eric Deters, a campaign donor to the president. The question now is whether she will follow the path of others who have profited off Trump's name or remain protected within MAGA royalty.

Reports of her alleged grift come as stories swirl about the president's fury over former campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and James Blair, who collected buckets of cash for "advising" the nationalist party in an election in the Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bloomberg reported that story this week, while the Wall Street Journal broke the news on Guilfoyle on Wednesday, just as she and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were traveling together in Greece — meaning the accusations against a sitting ambassador surfaced in the middle of an official diplomatic trip.

Guilfoyle is far from the only figure in Trump's world who has profited off of her position and her relationship with the president — a pattern that has run through consulting firms, lobbying shops, and government media contracts since Trump's first term.

Before Trump was even inaugurated, former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and Trump adviser Barry Bennett started a marketing firm in Washington, D.C., where they pitched potential clients on helping them navigate Washington under the incoming president. Politico reported at the time that the firm's proximity to Trump was a key selling point.

It was not long before Lewandowski's influence in Trump world began to wane. He eventually built a close relationship with Gov. Kristi Noem (R-N.D.), who served briefly as Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security. Lewandowski and Noem both drew scrutiny after they approved a large media contract to promote the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Noem then alleged that Trump personally approved the $220 million appropriation.

Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard built a lucrative Trump-connected lobbying business during the first term. Those who worked at his firm include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Ballard Partners reported $88.3 million in lobbying revenue for 2025 — a 300 percent increase, according to Reuters.

The Washington Post reported in May 2018 that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen bragged in 2017, "I'm crushing it," as he cashed in on his relationship with Trump. His consulting firm also offered to help people "navigate the new administration," the report said. The result was a "rapid flow of millions of dollars to Cohen."

"The companies cited a range of reasons for hiring Cohen. A Korean defense company competing for a U.S. contract said it paid him $150,000 to advise it on accounting practices. A global pharmaceutical company said it paid him $1.2 million to provide insight into health-care policy — money it said it was required to keep paying even after concluding that Cohen had little to offer. A telecommunications company said it turned to him simply to better understand the Trump administration," the report said.

Of those who have used their influence, only Ballard Partners has managed to continue profiting. Lewandowski and Noem were pushed out. Cohen went to prison, but has worked his way back into Trump's good graces. The latest reports about LaCivita and Blair say that "knives are now fully out for these two."

How things will go for Guilfoyle remains an open question, particularly since this is not her first scandal. The track record above offers three precedents — removal, criminal consequence followed by political rehabilitation, or continued profit — and her case as a sitting ambassador tests which applies when the person accused holds an official diplomatic title.

On Thursday, The Bulwark questioned, "Will Trump keep Guilfoyle around? On the one hand, this is an open-and-shut case of staggering corruption—and it's hard to imagine that this is the end of it. What's more likely: that Guilfoyle only ever tried to sell access the one time, and got really unlucky with the dance partner she tried to sell it to? Or that the usual rules about seeing a roach in your kitchen apply?" Which of those precedents she ends up matching — Lewandowski and Noem's exit, Cohen's fall and return, or Ballard's continued run — will be the clearest signal of how Trump's orbit handles allegations of profiting off the presidency in his second term.