Don Jr insists he will always ‘care for’ and have ‘special bond’ with Kimberly Guilfoyle

President-elect’s eldest son has still not officially confirmed the split but was pictured last week with Florida socialite Bettina Anderson

Donald Trump Jr has said he will always “care for” Kimberly Guilfoyle and that the couple retain “a special bond” amid reports that they have ended their four-year engagement and parted ways.

While the couple has still not officially confirmed the split, the president-elect’s eldest son, 46, was recently pictured with Florida socialite Bettina Anderson celebrating her 38th birthday at Buccan, an exclusive Palm Beach restaurant, and enjoying a romantic evening stroll along the beach.

The photos, published by The Daily Mail, coincided with Guilfoyle, 55, being picked by President-elect Donald Trump to be his next US ambassador to Greece, leading to jokes from the likes of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that she had effectively been exiled to Athens to avoid an embarrassing break-up.

Now, Don Jr has told Page Six he and Guilfoyle “will never stop caring for each other” – though he stopped short of confirming their relationship is over.

“Kimberly and I will never stop caring for each other and will always keep a special bond,” he said.

“I could not be more proud of her and the important role she’ll continue to play in my father‘s administration,” he added, alluding to her ambassadorship, which Guilfoyle said she was “honored” to accept.

Donald Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle pictured together at his father’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on April 4 2023 (AP)

Don Jr also took the opportunity to hit out at some of the gloating press coverage surrounding the apparent demise of their relationship.

“Anyone taking baseless and petty fake news cheap shots at her in the tabloids are just embarrassing themselves,” he said in defense of Guilfoyle.

“She’s been an undefeated prosecutor, national TV news star, a leader of the MAGA movement and close advisor to the president.

“The people of Greece are getting an absolute star and now the whole world will see it more than ever.

“Since the very beginning, no one on Team Trump has worked harder than Kimberly to help elect and re-elect my father – and no one deserves this ambassadorship more than she does.”

According to insiders, Don Jr had been complaining about Guilfoyle’s fashion sense for some time before their relationship appeared to come to an end.

“Don Jr has been telling people for months that Kim is so uptight and always dresses so professionally in these kinds of dresses and high heels, and never looks relaxed or casual,” a MAGA insider told People.

Kimberly Guilfoyle delivering an iconic speech during the online-only Republican National Convention in August 2020 (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty)

“The tight dresses need to go and she has been told that.”

Another source told the outlet: “Don Jr has always wanted to look good in his father’s eyes. Someone like Bettina, who is and has been a model, and is in Waspy circles of Palm Beach is something that would impress him.”

How welcome Guilfoyle will be when she takes up residence in Jefferson House, the US ambassador’s home in the affluent Kolonaki district of the Greek capital, is far from certain.

In an appearance on Fox News’s The Five in 2015, which emerged last week, she once dismissed the country’s citizens as “freeloaders” after their government rejected a bailout offer from the European Union.

“Nobody likes freeloaders,” she declared during a discussion about the Greek sovereign debt crisis.

“It doesn’t matter if you made great yogurt. I don’t care.

“Suck it up. Get up in the morning. Go to work. You guys are retiring too early. And that’s part of the problem. You have, like, politicians making out-of-control promises, buying votes with entitlements that they can’t support.”