Thousands of red MAGA hats and American flag-waving Trump supporters have flooded Eric Deters' Kentucky farm for about the past five years – an embodiment of the conservative commentator's loyalty to President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
But now, he's blowing the whistle on what he called "open grifting" by U.S. diplomat Kimberly Guilfoyle and members of the Trump family, to whom he has given hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.
That's according to almost 300 pages of documents − statements, screenshots, photos − Deters provided to The Enquirer about his friendly relationship with Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s former fiance, and others in President Trump's close orbit.
The documents include Deters' claim that Guilfoyle asked
him to pay $100,000 on her American Express credit card before her confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to Greece in September 2025.
Why is Deters making this public now? The controversial Northern Kentucky firebrand said he is speaking out now over the persistent money requests from Guilfoyle, a canceled presidential appearance at a festival he throws, a snub about song lyrics for Kid Rock and what he sees as the Trump administration's failure to help him bring justice to victims of a Pakistani doctor he has sued.
How does Deters know Guilfoyle, Trumps?
Deters has been a Trump supporter since the president first announced he'd run for office in 2015. He said he was chairman of Northern Kentucky for Trump during the 2016 Republican primary.
But his relationship with the Trumps didn't kick into high gear until 2020.
"I was one of those they needed between 2020 and 2024 and were more than happy to use," he said in the documents The Enquirer reviewed, which included a lengthy statement from Deters about his experiences.
That's the year he launched Freedom Fest, a patriotic event that featured conservative speakers like Tomi Lahrenand Guilfoyle.
Thousands turned up for the event at his Morning View farm in Kentucky, about 25 miles south of Cincinnati.
It's where he said he first met Guilfoyle. At the time, she was a senior advisor to President Trump and working to get him reelected. In late 2020, she got engaged to Donald Trump Jr., according to news reports.
Over the years, she connected Deters with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and President Donald Trump, messages between them show.
For instance, Donald Trump Jr. spoke at Freedom Fest twice and Eric Trump spoke in 2022. Deters has also been on Donald Trump Jr.'s Rumble show, "Triggered."
Deters said he's met Trump five times. The first time was during the 2016 presidential primary, he said in the documents.
In 2022, while Deters was running for Kentucky governor, he paid $125,000 for a dinner with Trump and about 20 other people at Mar-a-Lago and at least $75,000 to attend the Kentucky Derby with Trump.
Deters later said he met Trump at Guilfoyle's birthday party at a home she shared with Donald Trump Jr. in Jupiter, Florida.
He last met the president at a support party for the president at Mar-a-Lago following Trump's first indictment in 2023.
Spokespeople for President Trump and Donald Trump Jr. did not respond to questions from The Enquirer before publication.
Where does 'grifting' come into play?
In addition to donations to Trump and his campaign, Deters has also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump's family and inner circle.
According to Deters, he's paid Guilfoyle $300,000, Donald Trump Jr. $200,000, and Eric Trump $100,000 to speak at Freedom Fest.
But the money exchange came to a head last summer.
Guilfoyle asked Deters to give her $100,000 to pay off her American Express Card before her confirmation hearing, he wrote in a statement about his experiences.
"She told me if I would, she would be my 'ride or die in Trump world' forever," Deters wrote.
According to messages between the two, Guilfoyle asked Deters on July 3, 2025, to wire money to American Express directly because "it won't show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express."
She wrote, "Honey please I need you to get this done for me today."
Days later, Deters told Guilfoyle in a message, "Your needing $100,000 urgent unfortunately is not going to work. I can't do this without getting a divorce."
Guilfoyle refers to Deters as "honey," "sweetheart," and "babe" in messages, though he clarified via text message with The Enquirer that the two were just friends.
Deters, who briefly spoke to and messaged The Enquirer on Oct. 8, said he has not heard from Guilfoyle since then or since the article about their correspondence was first reported in The Wall Street Journal.
The Enquirer reviewed screenshots of text messages and Signal messages provided by Deters. Signal is an encrypted messaging app.
Guilfoyle's attorney, Jesse Binnall, told The Wall Street Journal the ambassador disputed the authenticity of the messages. He went on to tell the news organization that she'd been paid to speak at events before her nomination and was "owed a balance" for traveling to and supporting patriotic events.
Deters has denied that claim, saying online that he intends to sue Guilfoyle for denying the messages and for calling him a "known blackmailer."
The Enquirer could not reach Binnall via phone or email for comment.
Why is Deters publicly releasing this information?
Deters said he's releasing details about Guilfoyle and the Trumps because they've failed to help him with the one thing he asked for: the extradition and investigation of Dr. Abubakar Atiq Durrani.
Durrani owned the Center for Advanced Spine Technologies with offices in Ohio and Kentucky.
He was indicted on charges of health care fraud, false statements related to health care matters, mail fraud and illegal drug distribution in 2013, according to the U.S. Office of Inspector General.
"Investigators believe that Durrani, an orthopedic spine surgeon, billed Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies millions for spinal surgeries and related services that were not medically necessary and were potentially harmful to patients," the website states.
Deters, who's no longer a lawyer, has been pursuing legal action against Durrani on behalf of hundreds of patients for years.
According to messages he sent Guilfoyle, he's been seeking help to get Durrani extradited back to the United States. He also asked for help investigating medical and legal action he said has enabled Durrani to get away with crimes.
The messages also show he offered Guilfoyle $1 million if she helped him expose corruption with a medical company linked to Durrani, helped extradite Durrani, and arranged a booking on "The Tucker Carlson Show" so he could discuss Durrani. He also said he made the offer to producer Drew Lynch.
He told them both that he'd pay them the money if they delivered results, the messages show. But despite his close relationship with Guilfoyle and her promises to help him, he said he hasn't seen those results.
"Anyone, including me, would be a fool to send money with nothing but vagueness and nothing," he wrote to her.
He also blames Guilfoyle for the cancellation of Freedom Fest in 2024.
"You promised me the president. I planned for the president … I promised to raise $500,000 for the president," he wrote to Guilfoyle. "When the president could not come, the air went out of the balloon for the event."
In a last jab toward Guilfoyle, he notes that she also did not follow up with him about a song he and a guitarist wrote called, "Kentucky Outlaw,"which she allegedly told him she'd give to Kid Rock.
The Wall Street Journal also noted that Deters wanted to discuss a tax issue with the incoming IRS commissioner, who he wanted to connect with via Guilfoyle.
Deters added that the Trumps are also to blame for not pursuing action against Durrani.
"I remain supportive of most of President Trump's policies, not all," Deters wrote.
He went on to write, "Trump is not a King. He is a pissed off (Justified how he was treated) egomaniac, narcissistic, insecure man who can not fulfill his need for adoration."
Deters added on social media Oct. 8, "I am calling for congressional hearings on how the Trump administration, not just Kimberly Guilfoyle, grifted me and then failed the Dr. Durrani victims."
Who is Eric Deters?
Eric Deters is a controversial figure in Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati.
On one hand, people love his style of outright, no apologies hot takes on politics and news. Deters has more than 600,000 followers on social media and YouTube, where he hosts the "The Eric Deters Show", and recently celebrated getting up to 50 million views a month.
He unsuccessfully ran for Kentucky governor in 2023 and U.S. House in 2024.
But he's also had run-ins with local police and has been a menace for some.
The former attorney said he "retired" as a lawyer, though, his law license was suspended more than a decade ago, The Enquirer previously reported. In refusing to reinstate him in June 2021, the Kentucky Supreme Court said he had a “notorious propensity” for filing malicious and frivolous lawsuits.
In 2019, Deters was ordered to serve 15 days in jail after a judge said he violated a gag order relating to lawsuits filed against Dr. Durrani. Deters was released from the Hamilton County jail after serving eight days.
While running for Kentucky governor in the 2023 Republican primary, Deters pleaded guilty to charges related to a truck chase that occurred after a teenage nephew flipped him off near his family farm. The Kenton County Attorney's Office said Deters pleaded guilty to two counts of harassing communications and one count of menacing, all misdemeanors.
In June, The Enquirer reported that Deters assisted federal agents pursuing charges against doctors suspected of overprescribing opioid pain medication. Deters supplied investigators with patient information while launching lawsuits against one of the doctors, according to interviews and records obtained by The Enquirer. The arrangement blurred the lines between law enforcement and civil litigation during the federal crackdown on opioid prescription practices.
Enquirer Reporter Scott Wartman contributed to this article.
Have a news tip? Comment? You can reach Northern Kentucky reporter Jolene Almendarez at jolenea@usatodayco.com or follow her onsocial media. Keep up with Northern Kentucky news atNKY.com or by downloading ourNKY news app.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why MAGA ally is blowing whistle on 'open grifting' by Guilfoyle, Trumps
