Paolo Zampolli Ousted: Trump Ally Out at State Department
The paolo zampolli ousted story broke Thursday as the longtime Trump ally was removed from his State Department post as U.S. special envoy for global partnerships, ending a monthslong feud with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
A U.S. official said Zampolli was notified Thursday that his status as an envoy had been terminated and that he was no longer a government employee. Two other officials confirmed the removal, according to reports from CNN and other outlets.
A Feud Fought Over Email
The dismissal came just hours after Politico published details of Zampolli’s long-running clash with Landau. The two men traded accusations by email in threads that at times copied as many as 16 administration officials, with the exchanges centering on the chain of command and what work Zampolli was authorized to do.
Landau, who oversaw Zampolli directly until July, repeatedly ordered him to confine his work to cultural diplomacy. In a November 2025 email, Landau warned that taking on issues beyond his authority could bring “disciplinary action, dismissal, and legal liability.”
Answering to the President
Zampolli pushed back by insisting he answered to the president rather than to Landau. He credited himself with wins for Trump, including an aircraft order from Uzbekistan, and claimed Landau had been targeting him from his first day on the job.
In June, Zampolli escalated the conflict by asking the State Department’s inspector general to investigate Landau and accusing him of leaking a story to The New York Times about Zampolli’s custody fight with the mother of his son. Landau rejected the accusations as bizarre and defamatory.
The Man Who Introduced Trump to Melania
Zampolli, a businessman and former modeling agent who once represented Melania Trump, hosted a 1998 party where he says he introduced her to Donald Trump. He has been a longtime friend of the president.
He is the second Trump administration diplomat with personal ties to the president to leave the government in recent days, following the forced resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. ambassador to Greece.
In a statement Thursday, Zampolli said the envoy role was originally meant to last a year and that Trump had extended it by six months. Calling service to the president and the country “the greatest honor of my life,” he thanked Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the entire team, and said it was time for the next chapter — “back to business, building relationships and closing deals.”
Source: The New York Times