Trump White House personnel honcho Sergio Gor picked as ambassador to India after Post reporting on Musk feud, vetting controversy
WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Friday that his embattled personnel director Sergio Gor is being nominated as ambassador to India — offering Gor a “soft landing” following months of controversy.
Gor, 38, sparked Trump’s explosive falling out in June with billionaire Elon Musk and The Post later revealed that he was dragging his feet on submitting security clearance paperwork, despite vetting thousands of Trump appointees himself.
“That’s what they call a soft landing in Trumpworld,” an administration insider familiar with the situation told The Post.
Several sources said that the FBI recently completed a background check into Gor after he belatedly submitted his so-called Standard Form 86 (SF-86) paperwork, which begins the process for granting a permanent security clearance.
The findings of that review stoked internal intrigue over the past week as they were reviewed by West Wing bosses — with buzz mounting that Gor might be nominated as ambassador to Malta, his professed homeland, in a face-saving move.
He had maintained a temporary security clearance that was believed to have expired last month, though it’s unclear whether any extension was granted.
Gor had not filed the paperwork to begin the formal security-clearance process before The Post’s investigation was published in mid-June.
Sources who had worked with Gor over more than a decade said that he spoke often of being from Malta, a small Mediterranean island, but officials in that nation told The Post they had no record of his birth.
It was unclear whether Gor’s murky national origin alone explained his reluctance to submit to a background check.
The Times of Malta reported in July that Gor was born in Uzbekistan while it was still part of the Soviet Union.
Gor rocketed from obscurity as a longtime aide to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) by launching a book publishing company in 2021 that reaped millions publishing Trump’s books. In 2022 he bought a seven-bedroom mansion near Palm Beach, Fla.
He burst into the headlines in June when he convinced Trump to yank the nomination of Musk’s pick to lead NASA, Jared Isaacman, after nursing a grudge and speaking of paying back the world’s richest man for “humiliating” him at a Cabinet meeting.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was departing his role leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency when Gor allgedly exacted revenge.
Gor cited Issacman’s prior donations to Democrats, even though a number of high-profile former Democrats serve in Trump’s Cabinet, including former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Although Isaacman passed a Senate committee with bipartisan support, Trump withdrew the nomination, outraging Musk.
In a seismic political clash, Musk — Trump’s top financial backer during the 2024 campaign — threatened to launch a third party and endorsed Trump’s impeachment, causing indignation inside the White House both over Gor’s actions and their potential impact on the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump has fired none of his high-profile White House aides so far in his second term — only “promoting” ex-national security adviser Mike Waltz by nominating him to serve as ambassador to the United Nations.
Gor’s promotion maintains that no-scalps policy.
“I am pleased to announce that I am promoting Sergio Gor to be our next United States Ambassador to the Republic of India, and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The special envoy role does not require Senate confirmation.
“As Director of Presidential Personnel, Sergio and his team have hired nearly 4,000 America First Patriots across every Department of our Federal Government in RECORD time — Our Departments and Agencies are over 95% filled! Sergio will remain in his current role at the White House until his confirmation,” Trump wrote.
“Sergio is a great friend, who has been at my side for many years. He worked on my Historic Presidential Campaigns, published my Best Selling Books, and ran one of the biggest Super PACs, which supported our Movement.”
“This nomination has been incredibly well received,” Gor attorney Robert Garson told The Post. “From the Secretary of State to the FBI Director, everyone realizes how loyal, committed and competent Sergio Gor is to President Trump and the America First Movement.”
It’s unclear what would happen to Gor’s White House role if the Senate refuses to confirm him as ambassador to New Delhi.
“First question [in his confirmation hearing will be]: ‘Where were you born?’” predicted a source close to the developments. “Senators are going to motherf— him.”