Date: Monday, 28 September 2026
https://ericzuesse.substack.com/p/donald-trump-kimberly-guilfoyle-and
https://theduran.com/donald-trump-kimberly-guilfoyle-and-gavin-newsom
Donald Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Gavin Newsom:
The Bi-Partisan Corruptness at the Top of the U.S. Empire
27 September 2026, posted by Eric Zuesse. (All of my recent articles can be seen here.)
In a dictatorship by billionaires such as the U.S. is, corruptness is built into the system — not an optional alternative within it. This article is about that: America’s corrupt imperialism.
——
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHsEymW7Wds
“Kimberly Guilfoyle suggests US could overthrow any government.”
Aaron Parnas, 26 September 2026
TRANSCRIPT
Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-girlfriend, now US Ambassador to Greece, sparked an international incident suggesting that the United States could topple any regime in Europe. We're now learning that back in March of this year, there was a dinner held in Athens, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, being the US Ambassador, was at the dinner. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the discussion at the dinner turned to the collapse of the Romanian government. And what Guilfoyle said in response to that was pretty stunning. Quote, “We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here,” referring to possibly toppling the current Greek government, regime change in Greece. This sparked outrage from Greece's energy secretary, who essentially responded that the United States could not replace the Greece government. Why? Because it was duly elected by the voters of Greece. But that's where we are today. Spread the word. Follow for more.
——
Biden had said “I am running the world”; Trump had said “I run the country and the world.”
The hero to so many Democrats, Obama, while he was America’s President, said that ONLY the U.S. is “indispensable,” NO other nation is — EVERY other nation is “dispensable.” He said he got that idea from Robert Kagan, the leading advocate of neoconservatism and promoter of regime-change in Iraq and the Iraq war (that Obama, when he had been campaigning for the Presidency in 2008 had SAID that on 2 October 2002, while he was campaigning for his first public office, invading Iraq would be “dumb” — not “evil,” not “wrong,” not “aggression” and thus a violation of international law, but simply “dumb,” stupid. He claimed then to NOT agree with Kagan — the biggest public advocate of invading Iraq — but in 2014, he was a neocon, himself, when actually serving AS the U.S. President). And, ALSO in 2014, he carried out a bloody coup in Ukraine (in February) that transformed Ukraine’s Government from the corrupt neutralist democratic Government that he had overthrew, and into the super-corrupt neoconservative Russia-hating illegal government that has ruled there ever since. And now, the former wife of Gavin Newsom (Caifornia’s Governor, who is now campaigning for the 2028 Democratic Presidential nomination), Kimberly Guilfoyle, is proudly saying that “We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here.” It’s like Musk’s (Trump’s biggest donor) having likewise said on 24 March 2021, “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.” And just as Musk said that in regard to America’s 2019 overthrowing Bolivian President Evo Morales to secure access to Bolivia’s lithium (which Musk wanted), Guilfoyle said it in regard to America’s selling its overpriced energy to Romania.
In regard to Guilfoyle and her statement that America can overthrow any Government it wants, the important fact was: Romania’s Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan had refused to okay a costly agreement by Romania to purchase LNG from America, and that that decision by him led to the collapse of his government in May 2026. Just today, on September 27th, the Romanian Economic dot net website headlines (as auto-translated) “EXCLUSIVE: Why Romgaz didn’t buy America gas, as former PSD Minister of Energy Bogdan Ivan would have wanted. Estimated losses of 300 million euros per year, in the negative scenario.” It opened: “The scandal of the moment in Romania is the one related to the statement of the US ambassador to Greece who explicitly implied, in a discussion in Athens in March, revealed by the Wall Street Journal, that the US was involved in the fall of the Bologna government, in the context in which Romania did not sign a contract to purchase American LNG that was to be delivered from Greece.” Romania’s Government was bought down because it said no to the U.S.-demanded massive theft from Romania. Guilfoyle was telling her counterpart the Greek Ambassador that any country, including his, is subject to the same possible treatment if they disobey.
So, I wanted to know more about Guilfoyle’s statement, and therefore asked ChatGPT to do a search: “Guilfoyle “We can overthrow any government” wsj.com” and got:
Yes. I found the Wall Street Journal article you appear to be looking for:
The Mystery Man Shadowing Kimberly Guilfoyle as She Pushes Deals Across Europe — Wall Street Journal
It was published September 25, 2026, by Rebecca Ballhaus, Dana Mattioli, Joe Parkinson, and Drew Hinshaw. The article concerns U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, her activities promoting U.S. LNG deals in southeastern Europe, and energy lobbyist Christos Marafatsos. The Wall Street Journal
The wording being reported is slightly different from “we can overthrow any government.” According to the WSJ account, during a March 2026 dinner in Athens attended by Greek and American officials, the discussion concerned the impending collapse of Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's government. Guilfoyle reportedly said:
“We can do this to any country we want. We can do this here too.”
The WSJ attributed this account to a person who attended the dinner and other people subsequently told about the exchange. Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou reportedly responded that the United States could not replace Greece's elected government. Guilfoyle's lawyer disputed the WSJ's description of the conversation. The Romania Journal
So an important evidentiary distinction is warranted: the WSJ is reporting that Guilfoyle made the statement; it is not presenting an audio recording or Guilfoyle's admission that she said it. Nor does the statement by itself establish that the United States actually caused the Romanian government's fall. spotmedia.ro
The surrounding context is potentially significant: the WSJ investigation concerns Guilfoyle's efforts to promote American LNG and the Vertical Gas Corridor, while Romanian reporting says the Bolojan government had resisted aspects of the proposed American-gas arrangement. The Wall Street Journal
If what you want is the exact WSJ passage plus everything the WSJ reports immediately before and after Guilfoyle's remark, I can extract and reconstruct that context next.
“PLEASE DO”
I found the relevant passage in the original Wall Street Journal article itself. Because it is copyrighted, I can't reproduce a long stretch verbatim, but I can give you the exact crucial quotation and a close reconstruction of everything immediately surrounding it.
The article is Rebecca Ballhaus, Dana Mattioli, Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw, “The Mystery Man Shadowing Kimberly Guilfoyle as She Pushes Deals Across Europe,” September 25, 2026. The Wall Street Journal
Original Wall Street Journal article
What the WSJ says immediately before the remark
The Journal has been describing Guilfoyle's unusually extensive influence in southeastern Europe and her advocacy of the Vertical Gas Corridor, intended to move U.S. LNG through Greece and the Balkans toward Ukraine. It reports that some Greek officials appreciated having an ambassador with unusually direct access to President Trump, but were simultaneously afraid of antagonizing her. The Wall Street Journal
The Journal then gives an incident as evidence of that concern.
In March 2026, Guilfoyle attended a dinner in Athens with Greek and American officials. During the dinner she became involved in an argument with Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou, in front of the other guests. The subject became the imminent collapse of the Romanian government. The Wall Street Journal
According to the Journal's source, Guilfoyle then said:
“We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here.” The Wall Street Journal
That wording is important. It is “do that,” not “overthrow,” and “any country we want,” not simply “any government.”
What happened immediately afterward
According to the WSJ, the exchange became heated. Papastavrou responded, in substance, that the United States could not replace Greece's government because Greece's government had been elected by the people. The Wall Street Journal
The Journal then immediately supplies its evidentiary qualification: its account comes from one person who attended the dinner plus other people who subsequently were told about the incident. Guilfoyle's attorney disputed the Journal's characterization of the exchange. The article, at least in the material available to me, does not report the lawyer providing an alternative verbatim account of what Guilfoyle actually said. The Wall Street Journal
The Romania connection makes the statement considerably more specific
This was not an abstract conversation about American power. The Journal explicitly says Guilfoyle made the statement while referring to the impending collapse of Romania's government. That government was headed by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
And the chronology deserves attention:
March 2026: Guilfoyle reportedly makes the statement about the impending collapse of Bolojan's government.
March 31: Guilfoyle reportedly meets in Bucharest with PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu, Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan, and presidential adviser Florin Vlădică. PSD says the discussion concerned the Vertical Gas Corridor and rejects other allegations about the meeting. The Romania Journal
May 5: Bolojan's government actually falls after PSD withdraws from the governing coalition and joins AUR and other legislators in supporting the no-confidence motion; it passes with 281 votes. The Romania Journal
This makes the precise meaning of “that” the central evidentiary question. Grammatically and contextually, according to the WSJ's account, its immediate referent is what was happening to the Romanian government. Papastavrou apparently understood Guilfoyle that way, because his response was specifically that the United States could not replace Greece's elected government. The Wall Street Journal
There is nevertheless an important distinction between evidence of a claim of U.S. ability/involvement and proof that the U.S. actually caused Bolojan's removal. The reported statement is potentially evidence for the former. Establishing the latter would require independent evidence connecting U.S. actors to the Romanian political actions that produced the May 5 vote.
That, I think, is the next question worth investigating: What exactly happened between the U.S./Guilfoyle and Romanian political actors before Bolojan's government fell—and, especially, what was the dispute over American LNG and the Vertical Gas Corridor? The WSJ article provides several leads that can be checked independently.
“PLEASE DO.”
I dug into the chronology, including Romanian reporting that predates yesterday's WSJ revelation. There is a substantially stronger circumstantial chain than the WSJ quotation alone suggests, but there is also an important piece of contrary evidence: PSD was already publicly considering leaving Bolojan's coalition before Guilfoyle's March 31 meeting.
Here is the evidentiary sequence.
This distinction matters: the evidence isn't that Bolojan opposed the Vertical Corridor as such. Rather, he resisted committing Romania to the proposed U.S.-LNG purchasing arrangement under economically unattractive conditions. President Dan described the issue rather neatly in April: the U.S. wanted to get LNG into the European market, while Romania wanted the resulting economic arrangement to be advantageous to Romania. G4Media
“We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here.”
Greek Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou apparently interpreted “do that” as referring to replacing a government: he responded that the United States couldn't replace Greece's government because it had been elected by the people. Guilfoyle's lawyer disputes the WSJ's characterization. The Wall Street Journal
This is more significant than I initially appreciated. The remarkable feature isn't merely what Guilfoyle allegedly said. It is when she reportedly said it: the Romanian government had not yet fallen. The WSJ explicitly describes her as referring to its “impending collapse.” The Wall Street Journal
And we now have Grindeanu's own account of what he discussed with Guilfoyle:
“Discussions with the U.S. ambassador to Greece concerned aspects related to the Vertical Gas Corridor…”
He calls the other implications “pure fabrications.” G4Media
Thus the energy issue is not an inference about the subject of the March 31 meeting. Grindeanu himself confirms that they discussed the Vertical Gas Corridor.
There is another potentially important piece. G4Media had reported in April, before Bolojan's fall, that his confrontation with entrenched energy-business interests was among the factors threatening his government. That means the energy explanation was not invented retrospectively after yesterday's WSJ revelation. G4Media
What the evidence presently establishes
I would separate three propositions.
A. Did Bolojan resist an American-backed LNG arrangement? — Yes, according to documentary reporting. The dispute existed before his removal, and G4Media says it examined Ivan's January 16 letters. G4Media
B. Did Guilfoyle meet the leader of the party that subsequently removed Bolojan and discuss the relevant gas project with him? — Yes. The meeting is documented photographically, and Grindeanu himself confirms that the Vertical Gas Corridor was discussed. G4Media
C. Does the presently public evidence establish that Guilfoyle or the U.S. government caused PSD to overthrow Bolojan? — No. There is a striking conjunction of chronology, commercial interests, the March quotation, and the March 31 meeting, but the missing evidence is causal: an instruction, inducement, threat, agreement, communication, payment, or testimony connecting American officials to PSD's decision to withdraw and vote against Bolojan. Moreover, PSD's February deliberations and its documented disputes with Bolojan over austerity provide an independently established domestic pathway toward the government's collapse. G4Media
The most probative unresolved question, therefore, is not whether Guilfoyle met Grindeanu—we know that she did. It is exactly what was said at the March 31 Isoletta meeting. In particular: Did the conversation extend from the Vertical Gas Corridor to Bolojan's refusal, Bolojan's continued premiership, PSD's planned withdrawal, or the forthcoming no-confidence motion?
That is where I would concentrate an investigation, because an answer supported by independent evidence could distinguish coincidence and parallel interests from actual American intervention in the removal of the Romanian government.
Original Wall Street Journal investigation
G4Media's May investigation of the LNG proposal and Bolojan government's resistance
“PLEASE INVESTIGATE THAT.
Yes. I investigated the March 31, 2026 Isoletta meeting specifically, including reporting published before the September 25–26 WSJ disclosure. That earlier material is especially valuable because it cannot have been constructed in response to Guilfoyle's newly reported remark.
The result is significant, but there is still a missing link: I found substantial independent evidence concerning who attended, why Guilfoyle was in Romania, and the commercial issue under dispute—but no public recording, transcript, contemporaneous minutes, message, or participant testimony establishing that Guilfoyle asked Grindeanu to remove Bolojan.
What can now be established
The March 31 dinner was apparently not merely Guilfoyle meeting Grindeanu socially. Reporting based on photographs/video identifies the people at the table as PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu; Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan; Kimberly Guilfoyle; presidential national-security adviser Florin-Lazăr Vlădică; political consultant Adrian Thiess; and Adrian Gheorghe Rafael. Contemporary reporting places the dinner at Bucharest's Isoletta restaurant at approximately 9–11 p.m. C24 News România
This was reported publicly before Bolojan's government fell. An April 24 report said paparazzi had obtained footage of the March 31 gathering; an April 28 report discussed the photographs and identified the participants. Thus, the existence and composition of the meeting do not depend upon the September WSJ story. Xpress news
Even more importantly, March 31 was already an American-energy diplomacy day. Earlier that same day, Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan publicly spoke about the Vertical Corridor, U.S. gas, Russian energy dependence, and specifically referred to what Guilfoyle had said. Financial Intelligence
And Guilfoyle's presence in Romania had been anticipated considerably earlier.
The January 16 document is particularly important
G4Media published what it says is the text of a January 16 letter from Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan to President Nicușor Dan and Prime Minister Bolojan.
Ivan described the November 7, 2025 memorandum among Atlantic-SEE LNG Trade, Nova Power & Gas and Romanian state pipeline operator Transgaz concerning long-term American LNG purchases. He said the precise sales terms were supposed to be completed within three months. G4Media
Ivan explicitly warned Bolojan and Dan that a governmental/political decision was urgently necessary:
“to avoid the risk of a diplomatic blockage with the strategic partner USA”
He requested an explicit negotiating mandate and government action. G4Media
But there is something even more revealing in the letter.
According to the published text, Ivan told Bolojan and Dan that American officials were supposed to report to the Trump administration by February 7 on the status of commitments reached with individual countries. He then wrote that Guilfoyle intended to come to Romania because of the:
“lack of a firm and integrated response of the Romanian state”
concerning what had been undertaken in the memorandum. G4Media
That substantially strengthens the chronology. Months before Bolojan fell, a Romanian cabinet minister was telling Bolojan in writing that Guilfoyle was becoming personally involved because Romania had not given Washington the response it wanted on the LNG arrangement.
What was commercially at stake
The proposed arrangement was not simply construction of a pipeline.
Atlantic-SEE LNG Trade—the Greek venture promoting U.S. LNG through southeastern Europe—had signed a memorandum with Nova Power & Gas and Transgaz concerning long-term Romanian LNG purchases. AKTOR's own 2025 annual reporting confirms its Atlantic SEE joint venture had agreements/MOUs involving Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and other regional markets and was developing long-term U.S.-LNG sales extending as far as 2030–2050. Aktor
G4Media subsequently reported that Romanian private companies had declined Vertical Corridor LNG because its price wasn't competitive. Moreover, Romania was approaching production from Neptun Deep, creating an obvious question about why the state should commit itself to long-term imported LNG. G4Media
So there were potentially very large, multidecade commercial interests involved.
And Bolojan apparently was an obstacle
The documentary trail indicates that Ivan was trying to obtain authorization from Bolojan and President Dan.
G4Media reports that neither the Bolojan government nor the presidency provided the requested approval, amid questions about price and economic justification. Ivan subsequently reportedly tried in February to persuade state-controlled Romgaz and Transgaz to purchase U.S. LNG through the Greek/Romanian intermediaries. Cotidianul RO
Therefore, this sequence is independently documented:
Nov. 7, 2025: Atlantic-SEE/Nova/Transgaz LNG memorandum.
Jan. 16, 2026: Ivan presses Bolojan and Dan for government action, explicitly mentioning possible diplomatic difficulties with Washington and Guilfoyle's intended intervention because Romania had not supplied a satisfactory response. G4Media
February: According to subsequent reporting, Ivan attempts to get Romanian state energy companies involved. Cotidianul RO
March: According to WSJ sources, Guilfoyle discusses the impending Romanian governmental collapse in Athens and allegedly says:
“We can do this to any country we want. We can do this here too.”
The Greek energy minister reportedly responds that America cannot replace Greece's elected government. Guilfoyle's lawyer disputes this account. The Romania Journal
March 31: Guilfoyle is in Bucharest promoting the Vertical Corridor and that night meets privately with Grindeanu—the leader of the party capable of depriving Bolojan of his parliamentary majority—and Ivan, the minister who had been pressing Bolojan for the LNG arrangement. Xpress news
April: PSD votes overwhelmingly to leave Bolojan's coalition. Importantly, however, Grindeanu had already announced in February that PSD would consider whether to remain under Bolojan, so the March 31 dinner cannot reasonably be treated as the demonstrated origin of PSD's opposition. G4Media
May 5: PSD joins AUR and others in voting Bolojan's government out.
What Grindeanu now admits—and denies
After the WSJ disclosure, Grindeanu did not deny meeting Guilfoyle and did not deny discussing the American energy project.
He says:
“Discussions with the U.S. ambassador to Greece concerned aspects related to the Vertical Gas Corridor…”
He calls the other suggested subjects “pure fabrications” and says government change was not discussed. G4Media
That statement should be treated as a participant's assertion—not independently verified evidence of everything that was or wasn't discussed. But neither should the opposite be assumed without evidence.
A particularly interesting additional participant
Adrian Thiess deserves further investigation.
Contemporaneous reporting identifies him at the March 31 table. He is a Romanian political consultant/event organizer with American political connections; subsequent reporting describes connections with former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. Xpress news
His presence raises an obvious factual question: Who organized the dinner?
I have not yet found a reliable answer.
That could matter considerably. If it was organized merely as part of Guilfoyle's energy visit, that points one way. If Grindeanu or Ivan arranged it, that tells us something else. If Thiess arranged Guilfoyle's private meeting with the PSD leadership, his role and communications become potentially important evidence.
One claim I would NOT presently make
Some Romanian headlines now say Guilfoyle “admitted that the United States brought down Bolojan.” That goes beyond what the available WSJ account establishes.
The underlying evidence is subtler and, in my view, more interesting.
The WSJ says that before Bolojan fell, Guilfoyle was discussing his government's impending collapse and allegedly said, “We can do this to any country we want.” Her Greek interlocutor evidently interpreted her statement as referring to American ability to replace governments, because that is what he objected to. The Romania Journal
But we still do not know exactly what “we” and “do this” meant in Guilfoyle's mind, assuming the quotation is accurate.
Where the investigation now stands
There are now four independently significant facts that converge:
But the decisive fifth fact remains missing:
Evidence showing what Guilfoyle and Grindeanu actually said to each other about Bolojan, PSD's withdrawal, or the coming no-confidence vote.
I searched specifically for that evidence and found none publicly available so far. The photographs establish attendance, not conversation; Grindeanu supplies one participant's account; and the WSJ's Athens sources establish a separate alleged conversation, not what happened at Isoletta.
The next place I would investigate is therefore Adrian Thiess: who arranged the March 31 dinner, why each participant was invited, his relationship with Guilfoyle/Trump-world and Grindeanu, and whether he or any of the other participants described the meeting between March 31 and May 5. Contemporaneous statements in that interval would be considerably more probative than explanations supplied after the September WSJ revelation.
“PLEASE INVESTIGATE THAT.”
I investigated Adrian Thiess and, especially, whether there is evidence from before Bolojan's May 5 fall identifying who arranged the March 31 Isoletta dinner or explaining its purpose. There is one new finding that strengthens the Thiess lead, but it needs careful qualification.
1. Contemporary reporting points to Thiess and Florin Vlădică as organizers
The strongest contemporaneous report I found is the April 27 DeFapt report, which was based on the original Presa-Liberă photographs/reporting. It described the March 31 dinner as having been “orchestrated by figures such as Florin Lazăr Vlădică and Adrian Thiess.” DeFapt.ro
That is considerably more specific than merely saying Thiess attended.
Another April 24 report, based on the full FlashPaparazzi footage, independently emphasized Thiess's role as someone specializing in facilitating connections between Romanian political figures and American political circles, although it explicitly said that it did not know his exact role at this particular dinner. Xpress news
So I would now formulate the finding this way:
There is contemporaneous pre-collapse reporting that Thiess and Vlădică helped orchestrate the March 31 gathering, but I have not found primary evidence—reservation records, invitations, messages, or an admission from Thiess or Vlădică—proving precisely who invited whom.
2. Thiess's Trump-world connection is not speculative
The strongest source here is actually the Washington Post, from 2019, seven years before the present controversy.
Thiess personally brought Trump's then-campaign manager Brad Parscale to Romania. Thiess told the Post that he invited Parscale. The trip was sponsored by Thiess, and his McCann/Thiess Conferences organization arranged Parscale's appearance. Parscale also attended a private dinner of roughly 40 members of Romania's political establishment. The Washington Post
The Romanian Orthodox Church independently confirms that Thiess accompanied Parscale during his March 2019 visit. Arhiepiscopia Bucureștilor
So Thiess had already demonstrated precisely the activity that would be relevant here: bringing politically important Trump associates into private contact with Romanian political figures.
3. More importantly, Thiess remained connected to Trump-world
The relationship wasn't confined to 2019.
Reporting concerning Romania's 2024 election describes Thiess contacting Parscale after the Romanian presidential-election crisis. Digi24's account of the New York Times investigation says that less than a day after Thiess contacted Parscale about events in Romania, Donald Trump Jr. publicly commented on those events. Digi24
That doesn't establish that Thiess caused Trump Jr.'s statement. But it establishes a functioning communications channel between Thiess and an important member of Trump's political network.
That becomes especially interesting because Guilfoyle herself had been Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancée.
4. Thiess therefore provides a plausible connection—but not yet a demonstrated causal chain
We can document:
Thiess → Parscale → Trump political network
and independently:
Thiess → March 31 Isoletta dinner → Guilfoyle + Grindeanu + Ivan + Vlădică.
We cannot presently document:
Thiess → arrangement with Guilfoyle/Trump administration to pressure Grindeanu concerning Bolojan.
That last arrow remains an inference unless communications or testimony emerge.
5. The timing of the dinner has become still more significant
We now know from G4Media's examination of Energy Minister Ivan's January correspondence that Guilfoyle's involvement in Romania was anticipated because of what Ivan called the:
“lack of a firm and integrated response of the Romanian state”
to the American-LNG memorandum. Ivan warned Bolojan and President Dan of the danger of a “diplomatic blockage” with the United States and sought authority to negotiate an intergovernmental LNG agreement. G4Media
On February 11, Ivan convened the heads of state-controlled Romgaz and Transgaz and attempted to get them to purchase the American LNG. Both refused. G4Media
Then comes March.
According to the WSJ account we have been examining, Guilfoyle allegedly talks in Athens about the impending fall of Bolojan's government and says the United States can “do this” elsewhere.
Then, on March 31, she goes to Bucharest for a conference specifically devoted to the Vertical Gas Corridor.
And that evening she has dinner with:
Sorin Grindeanu — PSD leader whose party possessed the parliamentary power necessary to bring Bolojan down;
Bogdan Ivan — PSD energy minister who had been trying unsuccessfully to obtain Bolojan's authorization for the American LNG arrangement;
Kimberly Guilfoyle — leading American promoter of that arrangement;
Florin Vlădică — presidential adviser/director of the Romanian presidency's Integrated Information Office;
Adrian Thiess — political intermediary with a documented history of arranging contacts between Trump-world and Romanian political figures;
Adrian Gheorghe Rafael — Thiess's reported godson, then a fugitive following a final influence-peddling conviction. DeFapt.ro
That combination is objectively unusual.
6. And we have a valuable contemporary reaction from before Bolojan fell
I found something else important.
Romanian commentary before the May 5 no-confidence vote was already asking whether the political crisis surrounding Bolojan might have a Western/American dimension.
Ziarul de Iași reported that commentators including Iulian Fota, Sebastian Lăzăroiu and Radu Carp had suggested looking for explanations not eastward but “very far West”; it says possible involvement by Vice President JD Vance was even being discussed. The article then specifically brought up the March 31 Guilfoyle-Grindeanu-Ivan-Vlădică-Thiess dinner in considering those possibilities. Ziarul de Iaşi - liderul presei ieşene
This is evidentially interesting for a particular reason:
Those suspicions existed before anyone knew about Guilfoyle's alleged Athens statement.
They therefore cannot simply be retrospective interpretation generated by the September WSJ revelation.
But they remain suspicions, not evidence of American direction.
7. I found no contemporaneous statement from Thiess explaining the dinner
I searched specifically for statements by Thiess between March 31 and May 5, and I have found none in which he explains:
That absence is important because the April 24–28 publicity gave him an obvious opportunity to explain the gathering.
8. There is also a potentially revealing asymmetry in Grindeanu's new statement
After the WSJ story appeared, Grindeanu finally supplied a substantive description of the meeting:
he acknowledges that his discussion with Guilfoyle concerned the Vertical Gas Corridor, while denying the other implications now being raised. G4Media
Consequently, we can now establish something that the April reporters could not:
The politically unusual March 31 dinner really did concern the very American LNG project over which Bolojan's government had resisted the arrangement Guilfoyle and Ivan were promoting.
That isn't speculation anymore. One of the principal participants has confirmed the subject.
Where this leaves the investigation
I think the evidence has now narrowed the missing link remarkably well.
The critical unknown isn't why Guilfoyle was dealing with Romania. We know that.
It isn't whether Bolojan was resisting the desired LNG arrangement. There is documentary evidence for that. G4Media
It isn't whether Guilfoyle met Grindeanu privately shortly before PSD abandoned Bolojan. Photographs establish that. DeFapt.ro
It isn't even whether they discussed the disputed American gas project. Grindeanu now admits that. G4Media
The crucial unresolved factual question is:
WHO INITIATED THE MARCH 31 MEETING BETWEEN GUILFOYLE AND GRINDEANU, AND WHAT COMMUNICATIONS PASSED BETWEEN THIESS, VLĂDICĂ, IVAN, GRINDEANU AND GUILFOYLE BEFORE AND AFTER IT?
I have not found those communications publicly.
And Thiess now looks more important to that question than I initially thought, because we have independent historical evidence—not merely someone's characterization of him—that he actually performed this intermediary function before: he personally arranged Brad Parscale's Romanian visit and access to Romanian political circles. The Washington Post
The most promising next investigation, therefore, would be unusually specific: trace Thiess's activities and communications from roughly March 1 through April 28, including his companies, social-media accounts, interviews, Guilfoyle contacts, Parscale contacts, and any relationship with Grindeanu or Ivan. That might tell us whether he was simply another dinner guest or the person who actually brought the two sides together.
“PLEASE DO.”
I searched specifically for Adrian Thiess's activities and identifiable contacts from March 1 through April 28, 2026, with special attention to Guilfoyle, Grindeanu, Ivan, Vlădică, and Brad Parscale. The search produces several useful findings, but also corrects something from my previous answer.
The most important correction
I previously said that contemporaneous reporting established that Thiess and Florin Vlădică “orchestrated” the March 31 dinner. That was too strong.
The April 27 DeFapt article was quoting Presa-Liberă's characterization that the scene looked like high-level political networking “orchestrated by figures such as” Vlădică and Thiess. It did not supply documentary evidence that either man actually organized the dinner. DeFapt.ro
And an April report based on the more extensive FlashPaparazzi footage expressly said there was no official information establishing Thiess's precise role at the gathering. Xpress news
So at present I would not state as fact that Thiess organized the meeting.
What the March 31 evidence actually establishes
The photographic/video evidence does establish a remarkable grouping at Isoletta in Bucharest between approximately 9 and 11 p.m.:
Kimberly Guilfoyle + Sorin Grindeanu + Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan + presidential intelligence official Florin-Lazăr Vlădică + Adrian Thiess + Adrian Gheorghe Rafael, plus several initially unidentified people. DeFapt.ro
Moreover, the dinner occurred after Guilfoyle participated that day in a Bucharest conference devoted to the Vertical Gas Corridor. Cotidianul RO
That makes Grindeanu's statement yesterday particularly consequential. He confirms that his discussion with Guilfoyle concerned the Vertical Gas Corridor. G4Media
Thus we no longer need to infer that the dinner involved the gas issue merely from its timing.
What I found about Thiess's function
There is unusually strong historical evidence that putting American political figures together with Romanian political actors is something Thiess actually does.
In 2019 Thiess brought Trump's campaign manager Brad Parscale to Romania. In 2023, Thiess himself told Gândul that Parscale had again come to Romania “at my invitation” and that their purpose was to begin collaboration in Romania and the broader region. Gândul
The Romanian Orthodox Church independently documented Thiess accompanying Parscale during the 2019 visit. Arhiepiscopia Bucureștilor
Thiess's relationship with Parscale apparently continued. G4Media reported that Thiess met Parscale in Serbia in December 2024. G4Media
More importantly, the New York Times investigation subsequently reconstructed an actual communication: after Romania's 2024 election crisis, Thiess messaged Parscale about what was occurring in Romania; less than a day later Donald Trump Jr. publicly commented on Romania. That temporal sequence doesn't establish that Thiess caused Trump Jr.'s statement, but it demonstrates that Thiess possessed a functioning communications route into Trump's political network. Digi24
I found no comparable Thiess–Parscale evidence during March–April 2026
This is an important negative result.
I searched combinations of Thiess/Parscale/Guilfoyle/Grindeanu/Ivan/Vlădică for March and April 2026. I found no publicly available message, meeting, telephone call, social-media interaction, interview, photograph or travel record showing Thiess communicating with Parscale during the crucial March 1–April 28 period.
Nor did I find public evidence establishing a direct Thiess–Guilfoyle relationship before March 31.
That means this possible chain:
Thiess → Parscale → Trump circle → Guilfoyle
is historically plausible but not presently evidenced for this particular operation.
There may be a much simpler explanation: Thiess could have known Guilfoyle directly. But I have found no evidence establishing that before the dinner.
Something else makes Thiess more interesting
Thiess wasn't simply someone who once knew Parscale.
By 2024–25, Romanian reporting associated him with efforts to connect Romanian political movements with figures in Trump's American political network. G4Media described him in December 2024 as someone working particularly on relationships with people connected to the Trump administration. G4Media
Other reporting says Thiess had been involved in bringing Donald Trump Jr. to the region as well. HotNews.ro
Therefore his presence at a private dinner containing an American ambassador personally close to the Trump family and senior Romanian political actors fits an independently documented pattern of activity. That observation doesn't establish his purpose on March 31.
Vlădică is potentially just as important as Thiess
This investigation produced another finding that I think deserves more attention.
Florin-Lazăr Vlădică wasn't simply another Romanian politician at dinner. He was director of the Integrated Information Office in the Romanian Presidential Administration—in other words, a national-security/intelligence official close to President Nicușor Dan. News.ro
President Dan was later questioned publicly about Vlădică's attendance.
Dan said he had discussed the matter with Vlădică only “tangentially”; according to Dan, Vlădică told him he had not known that another diner, Rafael, was a wanted convicted criminal. Dan defended officials meeting people informally provided nothing illegal occurred. Espress
Notice what that answer doesn't establish: who invited Vlădică, why the president's intelligence-office director was attending a dinner involving the PSD leader, energy minister, Guilfoyle and Thiess, or what Vlădică reported to the president afterward.
Those questions remain unanswered publicly.
And the timing becomes increasingly interesting
Before the September WSJ revelation, Romanian observers were already asking whether the developing governmental crisis had an American dimension.
An article published while the crisis was developing explicitly connected speculation about Western/American involvement with the March 31 Guilfoyle–Grindeanu–Ivan–Vlădică–Thiess meeting. It noted that several Romanian commentators were suggesting that observers look “very far West” rather than eastward for part of the explanation. Ziarul de Iaşi - liderul presei ieşene
That article is valuable as evidence of contemporaneous suspicion, not evidence that the suspicion was correct.
But then, months later, the WSJ obtained its independent account of Guilfoyle's extraordinary Athens conversation.
That chronological independence is what makes the combination worth investigating.
What I could NOT find
After fairly extensive searching, I find no public evidence presently establishing any of the following:
Those aren't minor omissions. They are precisely the evidence that would be necessary to move from a striking sequence of events to a demonstrated intervention.
But we can now construct the evidentiary chain without speculation
What is independently supportable is:
1. The American-backed Vertical Corridor/LNG arrangement encountered resistance from Bolojan's government.
2. Guilfoyle was personally promoting that project.
3. Before Bolojan fell, according to the WSJ's sources, Guilfoyle discussed his government's impending collapse and allegedly said the United States could “do this” elsewhere. Her lawyer disputes the characterization.
4. On March 31 Guilfoyle traveled to Bucharest in connection with the Vertical Corridor.
5. That evening she met privately with the leader of PSD, the party capable of withdrawing Bolojan's parliamentary majority, along with PSD's energy minister, the president's senior information/intelligence official, and Thiess.
6. Grindeanu now confirms that the Vertical Gas Corridor was discussed at that meeting. G4Media
7. Thiess had an independently documented history of arranging access between Romanian political actors and Trump's political circle. Gândul
8. PSD's conflict with Bolojan nevertheless predated the dinner. Grindeanu had publicly announced in February that PSD would vote internally on whether it would remain in a government headed by Bolojan. That is substantial evidence for an independent Romanian political cause and must remain in any rigorous reconstruction. G4Media
9. PSD subsequently withdrew and then participated in bringing Bolojan's government down.
That is about as far as the publicly available evidence presently permits us to go.
One avenue now looks more promising to me than further general searches for Thiess: identify the original Presa-Liberă/FlashPaparazzi video and examine the entire March 31 sequence—who arrives first, who arrives with whom, who greets whom, seating positions, who leaves together, vehicles, drivers/security, and whether the footage identifies the four additional diners. Those mundane details could provide considerably stronger evidence about who convened the meeting than another round of retrospective political commentary.
“PLEASE DO.”
I found the original April 24 PresaLiberă report and the underlying FlashPaparazzi video link, rather than relying only on later summaries. That lets us tighten several findings—but unfortunately the available footage does not appear to contain the arrivals/departures that would identify the convener.
The original video remains linked by XpressNews as a .mov file. Original Isoletta video file The page describes it as FlashPaparazzi's “complete images” of the March 31 evening. Xpress news
What the images actually establish
The dinner lasted approximately 9:00–11:00 p.m. Guilfoyle was seated between Sorin Grindeanu and Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan. The images show wine, smiling and animated conversation; nothing reported from the footage indicates visible hostility between them. Xpress news
That seating arrangement is more informative than I previously realized. Guilfoyle was not merely one member of a large dinner party sitting elsewhere at the table. She was physically placed between the PSD leader and the PSD minister who had been pressing Bolojan for action on the American LNG proposal. Xpress news
And Grindeanu now confirms that his conversation with Guilfoyle concerned the Vertical Gas Corridor. G4Media
So the combination
GUILFOYLE — GRINDEANU — IVAN — AMERICAN LNG
is established independently of speculation about the dinner's purpose.
Something potentially revealing about the head of the table
FlashPaparazzi subsequently identified the person sitting at the head of the table as Adrian Gheorghe Rafael, Thiess's godson. PresaLiberă reported that Rafael had received a final three-year prison sentence for influence peddling and was then wanted by Romanian authorities. Xpress news
That creates an interesting problem for the hypothesis that this was simply a Guilfoyle diplomatic dinner.
Ordinarily one might expect Guilfoyle, Grindeanu, Ivan, or perhaps Vlădică to occupy the visually dominant position. Instead, Rafael is at the head.
That doesn't establish that Rafael organized the dinner—seating position alone cannot do that. But it makes the alternative hypothesis worth investigating: was this actually a Thiess/Rafael-hosted gathering into which Guilfoyle and the Romanian officials were brought?
I searched specifically for evidence of that and found none establishing it.
Four people remain unidentified
This is probably the most useful new lead.
The original PresaLiberă report explicitly says:
“În imagini mai apar alte patru persoane, deocamdată neidentificate…”
That is: another four people appear in the images who had not yet been identified. PresaLiberă.ro
XpressNews independently reports the same thing after examining the FlashPaparazzi material. Xpress news
Thus the dinner consisted of at least ten people, not merely the six whom we have been discussing:
known: Guilfoyle, Grindeanu, Ivan, Vlădică, Thiess, Rafael;
unidentified: four additional people.
I searched subsequent Romanian reporting through today for attempts to identify those four. I found none.
That is surprising because identifying them could materially change our understanding of the gathering. For example, American diplomatic/energy personnel among them would suggest one kind of meeting; Thiess/Rafael business associates another; PSD political personnel another.
But I cannot establish arrival/departure order
This was the principal question I wanted to answer from the footage.
The publicly indexed descriptions call the material “complete images” of the evening, but neither the original PresaLiberă account nor XpressNews's detailed treatment reports:
who arrived first; who arrived together; whose vehicle Guilfoyle used; whether Guilfoyle arrived with Ivan; whether Grindeanu arrived with Thiess; who greeted whom on arrival; or who departed together. Xpress news
The underlying QuickTime file is still online, but the web retrieval system cannot decode that video format directly. I therefore won't pretend to have visually inspected frames that I haven't.
The original April 24 article contains a revealing distinction
PresaLiberă itself did not report as fact that Thiess organized the dinner. Its actual wording was:
“La prima vedere…”
—“At first sight”—the scene appeared to be high-level political networking “orchestrated” by figures such as Vlădică and Thiess. PresaLiberă.ro
That confirms my correction in the previous answer: “orchestrated by Thiess” was the publication's interpretation of the images, not a reported fact based upon invitations or testimony.
There is nevertheless one important structural clue
Put together the seating:
HEAD OF TABLE: Rafael
CENTRAL POLITICAL GROUP: Grindeanu — Guilfoyle — Ivan
ALSO PRESENT: Thiess + Vlădică
OTHERS: four unidentified people.
And compare it with what we subsequently learned independently:
Grindeanu says Vertical Gas Corridor matters were discussed. G4Media
That makes Ivan's position beside Guilfoyle particularly logical if the American gas arrangement was a principal subject of conversation.
It doesn't explain Rafael at the head of the table.
One further thing I checked
I looked for earlier publication of these images. The earliest source I can presently establish is PresaLiberă, April 24, 2026 at 20:29, almost three weeks before Bolojan's government fell. PresaLiberă.ro
XpressNews published its treatment the same day and a second analysis April 26. Xpress news DeFapt followed April 27, explicitly crediting PresaLiberă for the photographs. DeFapt.ro
That provenance is useful: PresaLiberă/FlashPaparazzi appears to be the primary source of the visual evidence.
Where the evidence now points
The visual investigation therefore changes one thing and leaves another unresolved.
It strengthens the evidence that Guilfoyle's interaction with Grindeanu and Ivan was substantive rather than incidental: she was seated directly with those two men, and Grindeanu now acknowledges that the American-backed Vertical Gas Corridor was discussed. Xpress news
But it does not establish who convened the dinner.
The most promising unresolved evidence is now quite concrete: the four unidentified diners and the person who made the Isoletta reservation. Either could potentially identify the meeting's organizer.
And I think there is an even better investigative route than another broad Internet search: contact FlashPaparazzi/PresaLiberă directly and ask whether their unedited March 31 material contains arrivals and departures, and whether they know the identities of the four people they left unidentified on April 24. Those are factual questions to which the photographers themselves may possess evidence that was never published.
——
I did, and have not yet received any reply.
To know the nub of this matter, I suggest reading the Economica dot net article referred to above, “EXCLUSIVE: Why Romgaz didn’t buy America gas, as former PSD Minister of Energy Bogdan Ivan would have wanted. Estimated losses of 300 million euros per year, in the negative scenario.”
—————
Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s latest book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.
