Donald Trump’s top Malta-born aide, Sergio Gor, played a key role in causing a bitter and public spat between the American president and the world’s richest man Elon Musk, according to international media.
The New York Post reported that Gor, Trump’s Director of Presidential Personnel, was instrumental in the president’s decision to yank the nomination of Musk’s personal friend from a top NASA administrator post.
That decision turned a disagreement on legislation into a firestorm of insults, the Post reported.
Sergio Gor, who speaks fluent Maltese, was raised in Cospicua before moving to the United States at the age of 12.
A fierce right-wing Republican and a close Trump ally for years, Gor was made the White House’s Director of Presidential Personnel when Trump returned for a second stint as president in January.
Gor’s role carries considerable influence in the Trump government as he is responsible for vetting the appointment of thousands of employees.
Gor’s poor review of Musk’s friend Jared Isaacman saw the relationship between Trump and the billionaire degenerate into a firestorm of insults and threats, the Post reported.
Tesla founder Musk, who left his role as a top White House advisor just last week, was given a glowing send-off as he departed his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But their relationship imploded within days as Musk described a spending bill that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump’s second term in office as an “abomination.”
Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe, and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington and riveted social media users alike stunned by the blistering break-up between the world’s richest person and the world’s most powerful.
However, quoting sources, the Post reported that it was Gor’s efforts to stop the appointment of Elon Musk’s friend that caused the relationship between the billionaire and US president to sour.
Gor, 38, had held a grudge against Musk after the billionaire “humiliated” him in Cabinet, the US news site said.
Gor then developed an intensely personal dislike of Musk and would celebrate whenever Tesla stock went down.
Gor left Malta in 1999, emigrating with his family to the US where he attended high school in suburban Los Angeles before continuing his studies at George Washington University, a private federally chartered research university in Washington.