Donald Trump has ousted the chief saboteur of his relationship with Elon Musk from the White House.
Sergio Gor served as director of the Office of Presidential Personnel, controlling hiring and firing across the administration — with a special focus on loyalty.
But now he’s being replaced by Dan Scavino, who has worked for the president ever since he was first hired at 16 years old as Trump’s caddie. Gor will become ambassador to India.
The seismic shake-up at the White House comes after Gor clashed explosively with Elon Musk over the billionaire’s pick for NASA chief, Jared Isaacman.
Musk quit Trump’s government days after Isaacman was dumped by the White House and branded Gor ‘a snake’. Gor reportedly ran around the West Wing giddily, showing the Tesla stock price crashing on his phone.
Gor’s White House removal comes as Trump met with Isaacman in recent weeks to discuss reviving his nomination for NASA. It was pulled in May after Gor dropped a dossier on Trump’s desk showing Isaacman’s donations to Democrats.
Trump wrote on Truth Social early on Sunday: ‘I am pleased to announce that the great Dan Scavino, in addition to remaining Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump Administration, will head the White House Presidential Personnel Office, replacing Sergio Gor who did a wonderful job in that position, and will now become the Ambassador to India.
‘Dan will be responsible for the selection and appointment of almost all positions in government, a very big and important position. Congratulations Dan, you will do a fantastic job!!!’
From left: Aide Walt Nauta, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Assistant to the President Sergio Gor, and an aide, wait for US President Donald Trump to board Marine One on the South Lawn before joining him on May 1
Trump and Musk speak before departing the White House on his way to his South Florida home in Mar-a-Lago in Florida on March 14
Political advisor Katie Miller (top left), White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (bottom right), White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino (bottom left) and White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung (top right) during a press conference with US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, in the Oval Office at the White House, May 30
Gor was announced as ambassador to India on September 8, and was confirmed to the post on October 7.
It followed reports that he had not been fully vetted for his White House role, despite serving as Trump’s chief of vetting. Gor, who is a Maltese immigrant, faced claims that he was born in Russia which he denied.
His replacement Scavino first met Trump as a freshman in high school while working as a caddie and bag room assistant at Briar Hall Country Club — today known as National Golf Club Westchester.
In 2004, he returned to the club as assistant manager and became the general manager in 2006.
The New Jersey native continued to work for the Trump family and transitioned to politics in 2015 with the billionaire’s first campaign.
Even after Trump left the White House in 2021, Scavino remained as a political advisor at Mar-a-Lago.
Scavino returned to Washington alongside Trump earlier his year as White House Deputy Chief of Staff, and recently got engaged to lawyer Erin Elmore, who works in the administration as the Director of Art in Embassies at the US Department of State.
Ex-White House chief Steve Bannon said: ‘Dan is Trump’s former caddie, no one knows club selection better.’
Nick Solheim, CEO of the conservative staff training non-profit American Moment, who worked alongside the Presidential Personnel Office during the Trump transition, said: ‘Mr. Gor has done a great job revolutionizing the Presidential Personnel Office.
‘He will continue to do great things as President Trump’s representative to India. This posting to a nation as critical as India reflects the trust Mr. Gor has to carry out the President’s agenda.’
Solheim also added that Scavino was the perfect person to fill Gor’s shoes, telling the Daily Mail that ‘there is no one better than Dan Scavino to head PPO as someone who has worked closely with the President for decades.’
‘I believe Mr. Scavino will carry on in Mr. Gor’s tradition of placing ideologically aligned people in high leverage positions to advance the President’s agenda,’ Solheim concluded.
The Daily Mail reported in June that Gor targeted Musk’s NASA nominee Isaacman over concerns about his loyalty. Isaacman is a billionaire tech entrepreneur and commercial astronaut who has flown on Musk’s SpaceX rocket.
Gor delivered to the president a list of Isaacman’s donations to Left-wing Democrats.
This was Sergio’s ‘f**k you’ to Musk,’ one White House official said.
Trump and Musk spoke about Issacman’s record prior to Trump pulling Issacman’s nomination.
Jared Isaacman and his wife Monica
‘After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social site at the time.
Trump’s rollercoaster ride of a relationship with the world’s richest man, Musk, captivated the attention of many political observers over the last year.
Musk torched his relationship with Trump over the Big Beautiful Bill and quit the White House in July.
He launched a breakaway political movement, ‘America Party,’ but remains close to MAGA world, particularly in his support for JD Vance.
In a sign of the Musk-Trump feud thawing, the pair were pictured chatting together at Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Phoenix last month.
Musk shared a photo of himself and Trump from the event, stating that they had reconciled ‘for Charlie’.
