If you’ve been scrolling through political news lately, you might’ve done a double-take. It’s 2026, and the names popping up in the same sentence are often Gavin Newsom and Kimberly Guilfoyle. Yeah, that Kimberly Guilfoyle. The one who spent years as a powerhouse at Fox News and then became a central figure in the Trump inner circle.
People forget they were once the "it" couple of San Francisco.
Long before the red dresses and the "The best is yet to come!" speeches, Guilfoyle was the First Lady of San Francisco. It feels like a lifetime ago. Honestly, looking back at photos of them from the early 2000s is like looking at an alternate reality. They were dubbed the "New Kennedys" by Harper’s Bazaar. They were young, glamorous, and seemingly unstoppable.
But then, the world watched as their paths diverged so sharply it gave everyone whiplash.
The Rise and Fall of the "New Kennedys"
The gov newsom ex wife saga actually started back in 1994 when they met at a fundraiser. They didn't tie the knot until December 2001. At the time, Newsom was a rising star on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Guilfoyle was a sharp-as-nails assistant district attorney.
They were a powerhouse.
When Newsom ran for mayor in 2003, Guilfoyle was right there, even leaving her own job to help his campaign. It worked. He won. But the victory was the beginning of the end for the marriage. By 2004, Guilfoyle moved to New York to kickstart a TV career with Court TV.
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Talk about a long-distance relationship.
The bicoastal strain was real. Newsom stayed in City Hall; Guilfoyle was in Manhattan. They officially filed for divorce in January 2005, citing the "strain of a bicoastal marriage." The divorce was finalized in 2006, and that's when the two lives we know today really started to take shape.
That Infamous Harper's Bazaar Shoot
You can’t talk about this marriage without mentioning the 2004 Harper’s Bazaar photo. They were sprawled on the floor of Ann Getty’s Pacific Heights mansion. It was opulent. It was intimate.
It was also arguably the moment people started looking at them differently.
Critics called it "elitist." Supporters called it "glamorous." Either way, it captured a moment in time before the political divide in America became a yawning chasm. Today, it’s a relic of a time when a Democratic mayor and a future MAGA icon could share a rug and a dream.
Life After Newsom: The MAGA Pivot
After the split, Guilfoyle didn't just fade away. She leaned into the New York media scene, eventually landing at Fox News. For over a decade, she was a staple on The Five.
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Then came 2018.
That was the year she started dating Donald Trump Jr. Suddenly, the woman who once campaigned for a liberal San Francisco mayor was the loudest voice at the Republican National Convention. It was a transformation that fascinated—and frustrated—political observers.
But here is where it gets interesting in 2026.
Recent reports, including some from The Hollywood Reporter and People, suggest that despite the polar opposite politics, Newsom and his ex-wife have kept a "transactional" or "professional" connection over the years. Some insiders claim she even helped him navigate some right-wing media spaces for his podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom.
Politics makes for strange bedfellows, but divorce makes for even stranger ones.
Where is Kimberly Guilfoyle Now?
As of late 2025 and moving into 2026, Guilfoyle’s life has taken another massive turn. After her long-term engagement to Donald Trump Jr. ended in late 2024, she didn't slow down. President Trump appointed her as the U.S. Ambassador to Greece.
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She was confirmed by the Senate in September 2025.
She’s now living in Athens, making headlines for her diplomatic work—and her sense of humor. Just this past November, while meeting with Greek President Konstantinos Tasoulas, she actually joked about her 2004 honeymoon in Greece with Newsom.
"Fabulous honeymoon but... we'll work on getting a new husband," she reportedly said.
It’s classic Guilfoyle. Bold, a little bit cheeky, and completely unafraid to reference a past that most people in her current political circle would rather forget.
Why This History Matters for Voters
Understanding the story of the gov newsom ex wife isn't just about celebrity gossip. It’s about understanding the network of power that exists behind the scenes.
- Political Evolution: It shows how much the American political landscape has shifted. The things that brought them together in 2001 are the very things that would likely keep them apart today.
- Bipartisan Backchannels: Even in a hyper-polarized world, these personal histories create weird bridges. If the rumors are true that Newsom consults her on how to "talk" to the right, it says a lot about his strategy for a potential national run.
- Media Savvy: Both Newsom and Guilfoyle are masters of the camera. They learned the game together in the early 2000s, and they’ve both used those skills to stay relevant for over twenty years.
The reality is that Kimberly Guilfoyle is no longer just "the ex-wife." She is a diplomat, a fundraiser, and a survivor of several political eras. And Newsom? He’s the Governor of the largest state in the union, potentially looking at the White House.
Their paths crossed once, and in the weird world of American politics, they keep crossing in ways no one expected.
To stay informed on how these past connections might influence future campaigns, keep a close eye on Newsom's media appearances in conservative outlets and Guilfoyle's diplomatic dispatches from Athens. The "Newsomly" era might be over, but its influence is still very much alive.