Gavin Newsom and Kimberly Guilfoyle in November 2003.
Lou Dematteis LD/HB/Reuters
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Kimberly Guilfoyle were married for five years, from 2001 to 2006.As the mayor and first lady of San Francisco, they were dubbed “the new Kennedys.”Guilfoyle went on to work in the Trump White House and is engaged to Donald Trump Jr.
Gavin Newsom and Kimberly Guilfoyle, who were married from 2001 to 2006, were once a high-profile political couple known as “the new Kennedys.”
Their paths have diverged significantly since their time as mayor and first lady of San Francisco.
Newsom, whose push for marriage equality cemented him as a national figure in the Democratic party, went on to become governor of California and was floated as a 2024 Democratic presidential candidate. He married documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom in 2008.
Guilfoyle, a former assistant district attorney turned Fox News host, became a conservative influencer and advisor to President Donald Trump in the White House. She is engaged to Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
Newsom and Guilfoyle have occasionally acknowledged their shared past and exchanged barbs about their divergent political affiliations.
Here’s a timeline of their relationship.
Deanne Fitzmaurice/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
San Francisco attorney Art Groza introduced the couple at a fundraiser for John Burton, who was then a member of the California State Assembly and went on to be elected to the House of Representatives, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Christina Koci Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle by Getty Images
Newsom and Guilfoyle wed at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco. At the time, Newsom worked as a county supervisor, and Guilfoyle was an assistant district attorney.
AP
Months later, Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle that living on different coasts had “taken a huge toll personally.”
“The transcontinental marriage is tough — the only godsend is that we don’t have kids,” he said. “You give up your life in the traditional sense.”
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
One image from the Harper’s Bazaar spread showed Guilfoyle and Newsom lying together in formalwear on a rug at Ann and Gordon Getty’s house.
In the accompanying article, Newsom described their relationship as “a wonderful combination of being in love and extraordinarily proud.”
Michael Springer/Getty Images
Newsom and Guilfoyle released a joint statement announcing the end of their marriage “with great sadness,” The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“Unfortunately, the demands of our respective careers have made it too difficult for us to continue as a married couple,” the statement said. “Over the past 10 years, we have developed a tremendous bond of love and respect for each other. That will never change. We will remain close friends. We ask for your understanding and consideration during this difficult time.”
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
After the two were spotted together at Newsom’s birthday party, a golf championship, and an outing with then-Prince Charles and Camilla during their royal visit, The San Francisco Chronicle described their marriage as “on-again, off again.”
Guilfoyle gave a vague answer to the Chronicle when asked if she and Newsom had gotten back together.
“If I was standing back and looking at the situation, I would say it went great — these two people obviously love each other and get along very well,” Guilfoyle told the Chronicle. “But I don’t have an answer for you. We are not back together.”
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Images
Guilfoyle told The San Francisco Chronicle that the divorce was amicable, and that she and Newsom shared a lawyer throughout the proceedings.
“We’re very close, and we’re going to remain that way,” she said.
Erik T. Kaiser/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Villency and Guilfoyle welcomed a son in October 2006. They divorced in November 2009, Newsweek reported.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
After Newsom’s campaign manager, Alex Tourk, abruptly resigned for “personal” reasons, Newsom publicly apologized for the affair the next day, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“I want to make it clear that everything you’ve heard and read is true, and I’m deeply sorry about that,” he said at a press conference. “I’ve hurt someone I care deeply about — Alex Tourk, and his friends and family. And that is something I have to live with.”
Meg Smith via Getty Images
Newsom and Seibel wed in Stevensville, Montana, on a ranch belonging to Seibel’s parents, People magazine reported. Nancy Pelosi, former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, and actor Jason Lewis were in attendance.
The couple now shares four children.
Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images
In a profile of Newsom in The Sacramento Bee, Guilfoyle described him as “an amazing ‘ideas guy’ in terms of having an idea, developing it and seeing it to fruition.”
Newsom won the race for California governor in the 2018 midterm elections and took the oath of office in 2019.
William Campbell-Corbis via Getty Images
After Guilfoyle and Trump Jr.’s relationship became public in May 2018, Newsom told KQED host Lily Jamali that he was “still trying to come to grips with all of it.”
“I wish her well, and them well,” he said. “And we see the world, clearly, with a different set of eyes politically.”
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“If you want to see the Socialist Biden Harris future for our country, just take a look at California,” Guilfoyle said in her speech. “It is a place of immense wealth, immeasurable innovation, and immaculate environment, and the Democrats turned it into a land of discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets, and blackouts in homes.”
Fox News host Elex Michaelson asked the California governor if he had a response. Newsom opted to “respectfully defer to the next question.”
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
When MSNBC host Alex Wagner asked if he and Guilfoyle still spoke, Newsom replied: “Nope. Not lately.”
“It must be weird for you,” Wagner said.
“Yeah, of course,” Newsom replied.
Justin Sullivan / Staff
On an episode of CNN’s “The Axe Files” podcast, Newsom said Guilfoyle was “spending a lot of time in Democratic circles” while they were married, citing her work for a progressive district attorney and connection to fellow California attorney Kamala Harris.
“She fell prey, I think, to the culture at Fox in a deep way,” Newsom said of Guilfoyle. “She would disagree with that assessment, she would perhaps suggest that she found the light.”
John Bazemore/AP
On an episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show” later that week, Guilfoyle called Newsom’s comments “absurd,” adding that she was a registered Republican while they were married and that it was Newsom who had changed drastically.
“I didn’t change, he did,” she said. “He used to be so proud to fight for small business, for entrepreneurs, for those hardworking men and women. And he’s fallen prey to the left, the radical left, that is pushing him so far to the left that it’s unrecognizable.”
Guilfoyle also said that she thought Newsom would run for president in 2024 and that it’s something he “wants very badly.”