E-Paper
A White House staffer may have triggered the Trump-Musk feud. Here's how
A White House source said, “Sergio was upset about Elon dressing him down at the meeting and said he was going to ‘get him’”.
A senior White House official is being blamed for setting off the explosive public spat between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk. A report in the New York Post suggests that months of behind-the-scenes tensions and personal vendettas may have played a key role in the high-profile fallout.
Sergio Gor, the director of presidential personnel in the Trump administration, is reportedly the force behind President Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw Musk's close friend, Jared Isaacman, from nomination as NASA administrator right after Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Oval Office exit.
According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of White House cited in the New York Post report, Gor helped push Trump to revoke Isaacman's nomination, which later escalated an internal dispute into a full-blown Trump-Musk feud.
Did the March 6 meeting start it all
Gor had long harboured personal animosity toward Musk, dating back to the transition period before Trump’s return to office in January, but tensions escalated further after the March 6 Cabinet meeting, reported the Post.
The source said, “Elon was always telling the president ‘Sergio’s not moving fast enough to hire people. He’s not the right guy for the job.’ In front of the entire Cabinet, he said that.”
The source added that it wasn’t just about humiliation, but the way President began giving him the ‘Why aren’t you doing your f***ing job?’ look.
Also read | How Donald Trump-Elon Musk tensions went from bad to worse in days: A blow-by-blow recap
Earlier, Musk had dismissed Gor as “sleazy.”
“Sergio was upset about Elon dressing him down at the meeting and said he was going to ‘get him’”, another source familiar with the matter told the New York Post.
'Elon was his obsession'
The meeting incident appears to have set off a campaign of quiet retribution by Gor, who allegedly told colleagues he would get “one last shot” at Musk before leaving.
“He was bragging to other people that he was going to get one last shot at Elon out the door. He was going to get Elon back for making him look bad,” said a source with close knowledge of the events.
Several sources describe Gor gloating when Tesla’s stock price dropped, frequently pulling up the “Stocks” app on his phone to show Musk’s financial losses and even sharing screenshots with laughing emojis.
“Elon was, like, his obsession,” one source said. “He would plant a story on Elon and he would send me the link and then send me a screenshot of Tesla’s stock price with a laughing face.”
The White House official is also said to have mocked the moment when Trump publicly purchased a Tesla from Musk outside the White House, hinting that Musk asked for Trump's help to bring up the dipping Tesla share prices.
Sergio Gor denies playing a revenge game
Gor has denied that his actions were motivated by revenge and personal vendetta.
In a statement cited by the New York Post, he said, “I fully support President Donald Trump’s decision to remove this nominee (Jared Isaacman)…This was never about Elon, it’s about someone who doesn’t agree with America First Principles.”
Also read | Trump vs Musk feud turns ugly; Tesla CEO makes massive Epstein files claim
Meanwhile, Trump ally Steve Bannon dismissed the idea that Gor was the instigator behind the breakdown, attributing the rift to long-standing differences between the former president and Musk, including disputes over tariffs and security briefings.
“It’s the president and Elon. This has nothing to do with Sergio Gor. Sergio Gor is a staffer that the president has to do things,” Bannon said.
Bannon, who has previously advocated for Musk’s deportation despite his US citizenship since 2002, called suggestions of Gor being the root cause “absolutely ludicrous.”
