Trump ally removed from role after report of State Department feud

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A political appointee with deep ties to the Trump family has been removed from his special envoy role following a report of a feud with a top State Department official.

Paolo Zampolli, who served as US special envoy for global partnerships, “was notified today that his status as an envoy has been terminated and he is no longer a government employee,” a US official said Thursday. Two other officials confirmed he’d been removed.

The news of his termination comes hours after a Politico report detailing a monthslong dispute between Zampolli and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. According to the report, the feud played out over email on a widespread number of topics, particularly related to chain of command, and messages between the two included personal attacks.

Zampolli is the second Trump administration diplomat who had personal ties to President Donald Trump to be ousted from the administration in recent days, following the forced resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle who had served as the US ambassador to Greece.

Zampolli, a businessman and former modeling agent, represented Melania Trump. He hosted a party in 1998 where he said he introduced Melania Trump to her would-be husband.

In a statement Thursday, Zampolli noted that his special envoy role, which was only supposed to last a year, had already been extended by Trump for six months.

“Years ago, (Trump) told me I was too good for modeling and brought me into real estate,” he said. “Now he told me: ‘Why do you want to work in government when you can close all these deals?’”

“The President is always right,” Zampolli said, adding that “serving him and the United States has been the greatest honor of my life.”

“I am deeply grateful to President Trump, Vice President (JD) Vance, Secretary (Marco) Rubio and the entire team,” he said. “Now it is time for the next chapter - back to business, building relationships and closing deals.”

“President Trump changed my life once. He just did it again,” Zampolli said.

Trump announced Zampolli as special envoy for global partnerships in March 2025.

“With his extensive experience working with the United Nations, the Kennedy Center, and various International initiatives, Paolo will help us advance America’s Interests on the Global stage,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.

Zampolli served on the Board of the Kennedy Center during Trump’s first term and was also an ambassador to the UN for the Caribbean island of Dominica.

Zampolli touted securing business deals for the administration while serving as special envoy.

He stirred controversy earlier this year related to the World Cup when he suggested Italy, where he was born, could play in the place of Iran. He told CNN at the time that he believed Iran was no longer participating amid the war with the US. Italy had failed to qualify.

“A World Cup without Messi is not a World Cup,” Zampolli said. “Italy has the same merits after winning four times the World Cup.”

Oliver Bunic/AFP/Getty Images

据报道，一名与特朗普家族关系密切的政治任命官员因与国务院一名高级官员发生不和而被解除特使职务。

一位美国官员周四表示，曾任美国全球伙伴关系特使的保罗·赞波利“今天接到通知，他的特使身份已被终止，他不再是政府雇员”。另有两名官员证实他已被免职。

就在赞波利被解职的几个小时前，《政客》杂志发表了一篇报道，详细披露了赞波利与副国务卿克里斯托弗·兰道之间长达数月的争执。报道称，这场争执通过电子邮件展开，涉及诸多议题，尤其与指挥系统有关，两人之间的邮件往来甚至包含人身攻击。

赞波利是继金伯利·吉尔福伊尔（曾任美国驻希腊大使）被迫辞职后，近期第二位因与唐纳德·特朗普总统有私人关系而被特朗普政府解雇的外交官。

赞波利是一名商人，也是前模特经纪人，他曾是梅拉尼娅·特朗普的经纪人。1998年，他举办了一场派对，并声称在派对上将梅拉尼娅·特朗普介绍给了她未来的丈夫。

赞波利周四在一份声明中指出，他的特使职务原本只应持续一年，但特朗普已经将其延长了六个月。

“多年前，（特朗普）告诉我，我天赋异禀，不适合做模特，于是把我带进了房地产行业，”他说。“现在他又问我：‘既然你能促成这么多交易，为什么还要在政府部门工作呢？’”

“总统永远是对的，”赞波利说，“为他和美国效力是我一生中最大的荣幸。”

“我由衷感谢特朗普总统、副总统万斯、国务卿卢比奥以及整个团队，”他说。“现在是时候开启新的篇章了——回归正轨，建立关系，达成交易。”

“特朗普总统曾经改变过我的生活，现在他又一次改变了我的生活，”赞波利说道。

特朗普于 2025 年 3 月宣布任命赞波利为全球伙伴关系特使。

“凭借他在联合国、肯尼迪中心和各种国际倡议方面的丰富经验，保罗将帮助我们在全球舞台上推进美国的利益，”特朗普当时在Truth Social上写道。

赞波利在特朗普第一任期内担任肯尼迪中心董事会成员，并且还是加勒比海岛国多米尼克的联合国大使。

赞波利在担任特使期间，为政府争取到了很多商业交易。

今年早些时候，他曾就世界杯发表过一番引发争议的言论，建议由他的出生地意大利代替伊朗参赛。当时他告诉CNN，他认为由于美伊战争，伊朗已经无法参赛。而意大利则未能获得世界杯参赛资格。

“没有梅西的世界杯就不能称之为世界杯，”赞波利说道。“意大利四次夺得世界杯冠军，理应获得同样的荣誉。”