{"id":50088,"date":"2026-04-14T03:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T03:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=50088"},"modified":"2026-04-14T03:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T03:17:08","slug":"greek-official-reveals-how-trump-guilfoyle-severed-chinas-dragons-head-port-advantage-in-gateway-to-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=50088","title":{"rendered":"Greek Official Reveals How Trump, Guilfoyle Severed China\u2019s \u2018Dragon\u2019s Head\u2019 Port Advantage in &#8216;Gateway to Europe\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">ATHENS, Greece \u2014 The Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East is hardly the only waterway on President Donald Trump\u2019s mind at the moment. While Trump and the international media may be talking about the Strait of Hormuz nonstop, the broader questions about other sea lanes and shipping waterways have very much dominated the geopolitical discussion worldwide upon Trump\u2019s return to the White House and have been at the center of tensions between the U.S. and China, set for a worldwide primetime showdown when Trump visits Beijing in May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"a9d-pre\">A top Greek government official is dishing on how Trump and his envoy to the Hellenic Republic have outmaneuvered Chinese President Xi Jinping in the East Mediterranean by building its own U.S.-funded port after a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) connected company took over a Greek port during Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a9d\"\/>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a9d\"\/>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"\/>\n<p>Adonis Georgiadis, the current Minister of Health of Greece who also serves as the vice president of the governing party New Democracy, sat down with Breitbart News for a lengthy interview in February when Breitbart News\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2026\/02\/17\/watch-live-u-s-ambassador-to-greece-kimberly-guilfoyle-speaks-with-breitbarts-matthew-boyle-in-athens\/\">traveled<\/a> to Athens for a huge event with U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle. Guilfoyle sat for a lengthy interview on stage at the Nisyros Dialogues\u00a0event in Athens at the Grande Bretagne hotel hosted by Greek businessman Peter Mihalos in mid-February.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2019, in Trump\u2019s first term in the White House, Georgiadis was Minister of Development and Investment. \u201cAt that time, COSCO had already bought the Piraeus board,\u201d Georgiadis told Breitbart News in his office in February. \u201cThey came to my office, the ambassador they had, and they told me they wanted to buy the Elefsina shipyard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>COSCO, Georgiadis explained, is a \u201cChina state company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"a9d-pre\">\u201cIt\u2019s not a private state company\u2014COSCO belongs to the Chinese government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a9d\"\/>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a9d\"\/>\n<p>The very same company, COSCO, for what it\u2019s worth, this spring called off operations in Panama over the Panamanian government\u2019s move to strip Chinese companies of the operations of the ports on both ends of the Panama Canal in a move <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/panama-hopes-chinas-cosco-will-resume-operations-balboa-port-minister-says-2026-03-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">viewed<\/a> as retaliation against the Panamanians after Trump\u2019s administration hailed the move and western companies are set to handle the ports until a competitive bid process plays out. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised that move by Panama\u2019s Supreme Court. COSCO\u2019s move is not the only retaliation China has unleashed on Panama \u2014 the country has also, according to sources who revealed this to Breitbart News in March,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2026\/03\/11\/exclusive-trump-administration-official-china-threatened-detain-panamanian-flagged-vessels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">threatened<\/a> to detain Panamanian-flagged vessels at Chinese ports.<\/p>\n<p>Georgiadis said in late 2019 he called then-U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt, a career diplomat who served across multiple administrations, including Trump\u2019s first term but also in the administrations of former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well. \u201cI told Geoffrey Pyatt, I said, \u2018Geoffrey, I have a very big problem because the Chinese want to buy the shipyard and the Elefsina shipyard was the only thing that China hadn\u2019t bought around the region,\u2019\u201d Georgiadis told Breitbart News. \u201cSo, I said I wanted to find an investment from the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32593111\" style=\"max-width: 718px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2026\/04\/7326afac-a756-4f76-8fd9-6a38b9283719.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Courtesy of Adonis Georgiadis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pyatt organized a meeting for Georgiadis with the CEO of the Development Finance Corporation, Adam Boehler. The DFC, which launched in late 2019 in Trump\u2019s first term, per a Congressional Research Service <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/R47006\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a>, \u201cuses financial tools to promote private investment in the economic development of less-developed countries\u201d and \u201caims to support development impact, U.S. economic interests, and U.S. foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to his office, and the first thing he told me was that DFC at that time couldn\u2019t fund Greece because Greece was not in the countries that DFC could fund because DFC was for the underdeveloped countries,\u201d Georgiadis recalled. So, Georgiadis pulled out his phone and played a video for Boehler of the Chinese President, Xi, visiting Greece to declare the Piraeus port as the \u201cdragon\u2019s head\u201d in the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"a9d-pre\">Xi had just visited Greece in November 2019 to declare the Piraeus Port, which Chinese company COSCO controlled, as China\u2019s \u201cdragon\u2019s head\u201d in the region. \u201cCOSCO is the dragon\u2019s head for\u00a0China\u00a0in Greece,\u201d Xi said, per a <em>Times of London<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/world\/asia\/article\/greek-port-is-our-dragons-head-in-the-mediterranean-says-xi-jinping-xrd5nll0r\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the visit, which is also prominently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piraeus.org\/piraeus-port-is-our-dragons-head-in-the-mediterranean-says-xi-jinping.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">featured<\/a> on the official Piraeus website.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a9d adSo\"\/>\n<p>Georgiadis told Breitbart News his case to Boehler was that while he would deal with China, when it comes to Elefsina, he preferred not to \u2014 but he had to make a choice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not the United States of America, but I was also the Minister of Development,\u201d Georgiadis said. \u201cI have a bankrupt company there. If you say you don\u2019t care, and my only offer is from China, I will give them China, right? Not because I want to, but because I have no other choice. But before I do something like that, because I believe it will be bad, see this video and decide. When he saw the video, I don\u2019t remember, but this guy was a very smart, very worthy guy, and friend of President Trump. He said: \u2018What? Can you play it again?\u2019 I played it a second time. So he said, \u2018I will find a way out.\u2019 I said \u2018Okay, I will do nothing and wait for the United States of America.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A month or so later, a measure was considered in Congress to amend DFC\u2019s countries list to include Greece, and it passed on a bipartisan basis.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly thereafter, in early 2020, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis traveled to the White House with Georgiadis to meet with Trump \u2014 right before the coronavirus pandemic crippled the world\u2019s economies. Georgiadis said he saw Mitsotakis talk to Trump about the Elefsina shipyard, and explained the situation of how China was trying to buy it so it could control most of Greece\u2019s shipping industry, and how the DFC was considering making an alternative bid from the United States to fund it. Georgiadis told Breitbart News he heard Trump directly tell Mitsotakis he would work it all out and for his ministers to work with Trump\u2019s cabinet at the time to sort it all out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump, in the Oval Office, told to Mitsotakis in front of me \u2014 I was there \u2014 to please tell your minister to talk with my minister to find a way out,\u201d Georgiadis told Breitbart News. \u201cSo the next day, we went to Mr. [Wilbur] Ross\u2019s office [at the Department of Commerce], and we made a channel between us to talk and organize how DFC will fund or buy Elefsina.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"a9d-pre\">Georgiadis said things were moving quickly at the end of the first Trump administration, but then slowed a bit during the Biden administration, but did still proceed. Upon Trump\u2019s return to the White House, things have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dfc.gov\/investment-story\/modernizing-greek-shipyard-critical-us-strategic-interests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accelerated<\/a> yet again. Now, the deal is profitable for the U.S. government and the DFC.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a9d adSo\"\/>\n<p>\u201cThe best news of all is it is a profitable investment for DFC,\u201d Georgiadis told Breitbart News.<\/p>\n<p>Guilfoyle, during her interview with Breitbart News at the Nisyros Dialogues event in Athens, highlighted the American efforts at Elefsina to undercut China at Piraeus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGeopolitically, Greece is very uniquely situated, and then just with the rich infrastructure with the ports,\u201d Guilfoyle said. \u201cSo, what we were able to do with Elefsina is extremely important. That\u2019s actual money coming out of U.S. taxpayers\u2019 pockets \u2014 dollars to invest in your country to make sure you can have a robust energy environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Late last year, Chinese officials at the Chinese embassy in Athens, per <em>Politico,<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/china-us-ambassador-greece-kimberly-guilfoyle-port-of-piraeus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lashed<\/a> out at Guilfoyle for her efforts to counter Chinese influence with American influence in Greece. A Chinese embassy spokesperson, per <em>Politico\u2019s<\/em> report, called Guilfoyle\u2019s comments calling Chinese investment in Greece \u201cunfortunate\u201d something they considered \u201cmalicious slander\u201d and \u201cserious interference in Greek internal affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked during the Nisuros Dialogues event by Breitbart News if Greece represents the front lines of the influence fight over shipping and sea lanes between the United States and China, Guilfoyle said it did. She said part of why China was able to get a foothold in Greece was because Greece did not previously have its own version of the U.S.\u2019s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States \u2014 known as CFIUS for short \u2014 but that now the United States is helping allies like Greece counter this worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m here. I love to get on the front line,\u201d Guilfoyle said. \u201cHere\u2019s the situation. I\u2019m here as the American ambassador to the Hellenic Republic. Every single day when I wake up in the morning, I\u2019m going to find a way to push American interests, money, infrastructure, et cetera, to work with Greece and the rest of our allies in this region. If that means pushing back very aggressively against Chinese interests, I\u2019m going to do that every single day, and I\u2019m going to do it unapologetically because that is my job and it is what\u2019s best for national security. China, they\u2019re smart. Look, they saw the opportunity. They came into Greece. But to be fair, it was at a time where the economy wasn\u2019t doing as well as it is here today. That was the only bidder. This is the reality. Learn the lesson of history. The only bidder at the time to go and go after Piraeus. Smartly, they went after it. Unfortunately, they were able to succeed. So what can you do about it? Well, learn the lessons and also develop what we have \u2014 and they now have legislation and best practices, develop what we have \u2014 in the United States, which is CFIUS, a review board, when foreign countries try to invest money into your country, you review. You evaluate it. It has to pass through. And there is like a deep-dive investigation. Now, they\u2019re doing that. They didn\u2019t have that in place then. So, there was no stopgap to prevent something like that from happening. But what\u2019s the other alternative you can do? You can invest money and infrastructure to build up another port that can push back against those outputs from Piraeus with Chinese interests. Then you can also have a long-term plan. Who knows? Sometimes things change in the trade and in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, at a recent Breitbart News event in Washington,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2026\/03\/26\/watch-live-senators-cotton-and-banks-headline-china-the-threats-you-know-about-and-the-ones-you-dont\/\">said<\/a> that China and Iran have been allies for years now \u2014 and again made the case, specifically about the Strait of Hormuz, that waterways are extremely important for global trade and the order led by the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing they have in common, despite their many differences, is that they don\u2019t want to have the U.S. calling the shots in the international order,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want the United States to be the dominant superpower. China wants to be that. Iran is happy to help them achieve that. One way they have done that over the years is Iran exports a lot \u2014 the lion\u2019s share \u2014 of its black market oil to China through various means like ship-to-ship transfers and small refineries that are somewhat off the grid to help China on its huge energy needs \u2014 same thing with Venezuela by the way, too. China, in return, has helped send arms to Iran over the years. They have collaborated in various ways in the Middle East as well again to try to upset the American-led order there with Israel and with our Arab friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cotton added as well that Iran\u2019s threats over the Strait of Hormuz are dangerous to the world, and that \u201cwe can\u2019t allow a revolutionary terrorist regime to continue to hold one of the world\u2019s most strategic waterways and hold all of the Middle East and increasingly all of the world at risk using in some cases Chinese technology and know-how.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All of this makes the U.S. successfully getting its foothold at Elefsina port in Greece \u2014 which is just 12 miles away from the Chinese-controlled Piraeus port \u2014 even more important. The U.S. is finally starting to counter China on the high seas, whether it is in Panama, East Asia, the Middle East, or around Europe, like in Greece. Greece is also viewed by many as the \u201ccenter of the world,\u201d given its potential as a gateway geopolitically from the far east to the far west. It is the easternmost major European nation, and with many islands and a rich shipping commercial industry steeped in history back to ancient times \u2014 Greek ships move about 25 percent of the world\u2019s liquefied natural gas (LNG) \u2014 it is no wonder why Xi thought the Chinese dragon had conquered a significant pathway to the west when he visited Piraeus to celebrate what he called the \u201cdragon\u2019s head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But that is why the U.S. countermove at Elefsina led by Trump, dating back to his first term and sealed by Guilfoyle late last year \u2014 one of her first actions as U.S. Ambassador was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/economy\/1287178\/us-backed-elefsina-port-plan-advances\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">helping<\/a> advance the project after DFC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dfc.gov\/media\/press-releases\/dfc-commits-125-million-modernize-elefsina-shipyard-greece-establish-critical\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">committed<\/a> $125 million from the United States there \u2014 is so significant. Georgiadis told Breitbart News that Trump and the Greek government led by Mitsotakis have slain the head of the Chinese dragon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, this is the biggest victory you have done, maybe globally for China, because it\u2019s not Greece, it\u2019s the gateway to Europe,\u201d Georgiadis said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about the local market. I mean, Piraeus port with COSCO is now the third biggest port in the European Union. So, it\u2019s a real big gateway. If you manage to make an antagonist road there, the Belt and Road Initiative faces big damage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Belt and Road Initiative, of course, is China\u2019s geopolitical plan to build a global hegemony. Major nations that have joined it are now trying to leave it, and others have expressed regret as well.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2026\/04\/13\/exclusive-waterway-wars-greek-official-reveals-trump-guilfoyle-chinas-dragons-head-port\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ATHENS, Greece \u2014 The Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East is hardly the only waterway on President Donald Trump\u2019s mind at the moment. While Trump&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/50089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}