Sergio Gor

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Sergio Gor
Gor in 2025
Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byGautam Raghavan
Personal details
Born
Sergio Gorokhovsky

(1986-11-30) November 30, 1986 (age 38)
Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Political partyRepublican
EducationGeorge Washington University

Sergio Gor (born Sergey Gorokhovsky, Russian: Сергей Гороховский; November 30, 1986)[1][2] is an American businessman and political operative.[3] He led Right for America, a super PAC supporting president Donald Trump, during the 2024 United States presidential election.[4] During the election, he published Our Journey Together, Letters to Trump (2023),[5] and Save America (2024)[6] through Winning Team Publishing,[7] a publishing house he operates with Trump's eldest son Donald Trump, Jr.[8] He served as a delegate at the 2024 Republican National Convention.[9]

Early life and education

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Gor was born on November 30, 1986,[10] in Tashkent, Soviet Uzbekistan.[1] He spent most of his childhood in Malta, and he emigrated to the United States with his family in 1999,[11] and during his teen years, clearly considered himself of Russian heritage, with the email address "russumalti".[12] Controversially, he would later claim not to be Russian, when contacted by the New York Post.[13]

He attended high school in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and later studied at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.[citation needed]

Career

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Early career

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Gor wore a squirrel costume in a stunt against Barack Obama in 2008.[14] During the 2008 United States Presidential Election, he was an activist for 'Catholics for McCain'.[15] After graduating from university, he worked for the Republican National Committee and served as a staff member for representatives Randy Forbes, Michele Bachmann, and Steve King[14], becoming a staffer for Rand Paul in 2013, a spokesman for him in early 2015[16], and, eventually, Paul's Deputy Chief of Staff, continuing to work with him until 2020[17]. During this time, in both 2017 and 2018 Gor visited Moscow; Gor's lawyer would later claim that his 2017 trip from Washington, D.C. to Rome via Russian national airline Aeroflot had a "layover" in Russia, and that "any implications otherwise would be malicious and defamatory."[2]

Gor also worked as an Associate Producer for Fox News and officiated the wedding of former representative Matt Gaetz.[18] He was a top fundraising official for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign and founded the pro-Trump super PAC Right for America, which spent nearly $72 million during the 2024 campaign.[19]

White House Presidential Personnel Office

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On November 13, 2024, Semafor reported that Trump had offered Gor the position of director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office during his second presidency.[20] Gor assumed the role on January 20, 2025, and implemented loyalty tests to ensure political appointees supported Trump's agenda and had not donated to Democrats.[19] At the end of February 2025, Politico reported that Gor was among White House employees frustrated by Elon Musk's lack of consultation with the personnel office regarding decisions for the Department of Government Efficiency.[21]

Gor played a significant role in the withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's nomination to lead NASA in June 2025. Isaacman, a tech billionaire and associate of Elon Musk, had been approved by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with a 19-9 vote on April 30, 2025, and was expected to secure strong Senate support.[19] However, Gor lobbied against the nomination, highlighting Isaacman's past donations to Democrats, which led to Trump withdrawing the nomination, citing "prior associations" after a review.[19][22] The decision contributed to tensions between Trump and Musk, with Gor's influence cited as a factor in their public falling out.[19]

Gor is a frequent presence at Mar-a-Lago and maintains a close relationship with former Marvel executive Isaac Perlmutter, a major Trump donor and ally.[19]

In June 2025 media revealed Gor hasn't gone through security clearance process and pointed out inconsistencies in the details of his biography.[23] Gor claims to have been born in Malta in 1986 and to have emigrated to the United States as a child. Yet Maltese authorities have not been able to confirm any birth records under his name. Though members of the local community in Cospicua, Malta, remember him as a child in the area, residents also recall that he was referred to locally as “the Russian boy” and that his family spoke an Eastern European language. According to one resident interviewed by The Shift, Gor’s parents were believed to be foreigners of unknown origin who arrived on the island with a young child in the late 1980s.[24] Subsequently security researcher Brian Krebs revealed that Gor's email account used a password identical to those used by Russian national Sergey Anatolyevich Goryachev, born on November 20, 1980, in Saratov, Russia, for his own email accounts, which were registered in Russia.[25] On June 20, 2025, via Twitter, Brian Krebs recanted his prior research and stated, "I posted research on Mastodon/LinkedIn this week questioning Sergio Gor's background. Immediately after learning of a critical error in that analysis, I deleted the posts as they were no longer supported by the facts. I regret that error, and apologize for leading anyone astray."[26]

On June 18, Elon Musk lashed out at Gor online, calling his identity into question, and calling him a "snake".[27] Musk later clarified that he was accusing Gor of having committed "a serious crime.”[28] Senate Republicans hold Gor responsible for undermining the nomination of Jared Isaacman at NASA.[29]

In a June 17, 2025 article, the New York Post cited Gor telling them that he was not Russian.[30] On July 8th, 2025, The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Times of Malta released articles, breaking the story that Sergio Gor was born Sergey Gorokhovsky, a citizen of the Soviet Union born in Tashkent.[31]

Personal life

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Gor is an amateur disc jockey in the Palm Beach, Florida area.[18] He is fluent in English[14] and Maltese.[11] There is no information available on whether Gor speaks Russian or Uzbek, but during his teen years, Gor clearly considered himself of Russian heritage, using the email address "russumalti".[12] Though Gor's parents spoke Russian while residing in Malta - with those in the U.S. Maltese community mentioning their Soviet Union background in a Feb. 2025 newsletter, before it was reported[32] - it is not known to what degree Gor is fluent himself, or whether his familiarity with Russia and its language was why he accompanied Rand Paul on his 2018 trip.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b Borg, Jacob (July 8, 2025). "Top 'Maltese' Donald Trump aide actually born in Soviet Union". Times of Malta. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Exclusive: Top Trump Adviser Sergio Gor Was Born In the Soviet Union". OCCRP. July 8, 2025. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  3. ^ Nelson, Steven (June 17, 2025). "Sergio Gor, Trump Aide Who Vets Thousands of Staffers Hasn't Been Fully Vetted". NY Post. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  4. ^ Allen, Mike (February 23, 2024). "Well-funded new super PAC joins Trumpworld". Axios. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  5. ^ Haberman, Maggie (April 11, 2024). "New Trump Super PAC Says It Has $27 Million After Its First Major Event". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  6. ^ Doyle, Katherine (August 29, 2024). "In his new book, Trump threatens to imprison Mark Zuckerberg and says he 'got along well' with Putin". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  7. ^ Bennett, Kate (February 7, 2022). "Donald Trump quietly making millions from coffee table book". CNN. Archived from the original on February 8, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  8. ^ Haberman, Maggie (February 23, 2024). "A New Pro-Trump Super PAC Has Formed, With Ties to Mar-a-Lago". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  9. ^ Dixon, Matt (May 8, 2024). "Barron Trump to step into the political arena as a Florida delegate at the Republican convention". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  10. ^ "Thursday's birthdays". Politico. November 30, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Montebello, Edward (August 14, 2021). "Bormliż li jaħdem viċin Trump jirrakkonta kif darba l-eks President xtralu l-ħwejjeġ għall-golf". ONE News (in Maltese). Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  12. ^ a b "2003-2004 Canoga Park FFA Chapter Officers". www.angelfire.com. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  13. ^ Nelson, Steven; Glebova, Diana (June 17, 2025). "Exclusive | Sergio Gor, Trump aide who vets thousands of staffers, hasn't been fully vetted himself: sources". Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  14. ^ a b c Cummings, James (January 26, 2025). "Meet Sergio Gor: The Maltese man at the heart of Trump's administration". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved January 26, 2025.
  15. ^ Malta, Times of (October 19, 2008). "From Malta to Massachusetts". Times of Malta. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
  16. ^ "How Rand Paul bombed at Koch brothers gathering". POLITICO. February 3, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
  17. ^ Bailey, Phillip M. "Rand Paul's longtime aide leaves to join Trump campaign's finance arm". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Terris, Ben; LeVine, Marianne (December 12, 2024). "Is this publisher/DJ the most powerful man in Trump's transition?". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 17, 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Caputo, Marc; Isenstadt, Alex; Kight, Stef W. (June 6, 2025). "The White House adviser who fueled the Trump-Musk NASA feud". Axios. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
  20. ^ Talcott, Shelby (November 13, 2024). "Ally of Donald Trump Jr. offered top personnel job". Semafor. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  21. ^ "What 130-day cap? Musk is 'here to stay' in the Trump admin, adviser says". Politico. February 28, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  22. ^ "Donald Trump presidency news". CNN. June 1, 2025. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  23. ^ Nelson, Steven; Glebova, Diana (June 17, 2025). "Exclusive | Sergio Gor, Trump aide who vets thousands of staffers, hasn't been fully vetted himself: sources". Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  24. ^ https://eutoday.net/questions-over-identity-of-trumps-personnel-chief/
  25. ^ "Sergio Gor: Trump aide born in Russia?". Daily Kos. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  26. ^ https://x.com/briankrebs/status/1936177266662514838 [bare URL]
  27. ^ "'He's a snake': Musk jabs at Trump adviser who fueled messy presidential breakup". POLITICO. June 19, 2025. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
  28. ^ Tomazin, Farrah (June 21, 2025). "Musk Accuses Trump Aide of Federal Crime as Feud Explodes". thedailybeast.com. The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  29. ^ Caputo, Marc; Isenstadt, Alex; Kight, Stef W. (June 6, 2025). "The White House adviser who fueled the Trump-Musk NASA feud". Axios. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
  30. ^ Nelson, Steven; Glebova, Diana (June 17, 2025). "Exclusive | Sergio Gor, Trump aide who vets thousands of staffers, hasn't been fully vetted himself: sources". Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  31. ^ Borg, Jacob (July 8, 2025). "Top 'Maltese' Donald Trump aide actually born in Soviet Union". Times of Malta. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  32. ^ "Maltese-American Social Club Of San Francisco". maltese-americanscsf.org. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
  33. ^ Press, The Associated (August 8, 2018). "Rand Paul presents letter from Trump for Vladimir Putin". KDBC. Retrieved July 11, 2025.