Trump ally Paolo Zampolli dismissed as envoy after feud with Deputy Secretary of State Landau

Left · 1Paolo Zampolli, a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, was dismissed from his State Department post on Thursday 15 October 2026, according to a U.S. official quoted by ABC reporter Shannon Kate Kingston. 1 Mixed · 2The official said: "Paolo was notified today that his status as an envoy has been terminated and he is no longer a government employee"; a U.S. official repeated the line to Newsweek on Friday, saying he was notified the day before. 1 2 Mixed · 2Zampolli, a former modeling agent who says he introduced Trump to Melania Trump, had served as the administration's special envoy for global partnerships. 1 2

Mixed · 2The dismissal came hours after Politico published excerpts of nearly a year of emails showing a monthslong clash between Zampolli and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, with chains that at times copied as many as 16 administration officials. 1 2 Mixed · 2Landau, who oversaw Zampolli directly until July, repeatedly told him to confine his work to cultural diplomacy, and in a November 2025 email warned that exceeding his legal authority could bring "disciplinary action, dismissal, and legal liability." 1 2 Left · 1Zampolli insisted he answered to the president rather than Landau, credited himself with wins such as a Boeing order from Uzbekistan, and said Landau "has been attacking me from Day 1." 1

Left · 1In June he asked the State Department inspector general to investigate Landau and accused him of leaking to The New York Times a story about Zampolli's custody fight; Landau called the accusations "bizarre" and "defamatory." An administration official described the exchange to Politico as "cartoonish and embarrassing." 1 Centre · 1Newsweek noted that the published emails do not by themselves establish that the feud caused the dismissal; no official reason was quoted in either report. 2 Centre · 1In a statement reported by Politico, Zampolli called serving Trump "the greatest honor of my life," thanked Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and said it was time to go "back to business." 2

Centre · 1Separately, model Victoria Drake, 33, filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on 3 September alleging Zampolli drugged and sexually assaulted her at his Manhattan townhouse on 7 October 2023; she seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial, with an initial conference set for 6 November. 2 Centre · 1Zampolli, 56, denies the allegations as false, says he reported to the FBI what he believes was an attempt to extort $650,000 from him, and has publicly threatened a $100 million lawsuit; Drake's attorney Jesse Weinstein says process servers have repeatedly been unable to serve him, and that the lawyers will keep pursuing the case in court. 2 Left · 1Raw Story relayed reactions on X: Occupy Democrats' Grant Stern linked Zampolli to Jeffrey Epstein, Democratic analyst Simon Rosenberg cited "escalating chaos," and Balkans analyst Jasmin Mujanović called the firing sensible, calling Zampolli a conduit for Republika Srpska's leadership. 1