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Sergio Gor may be a contentious figure in some corners of President Donald Trump’s world, but his path to a US ambassadorship in India is looking smooth.
Trump’s director of presidential personnel doesn’t have formal diplomatic experience and made high-profile enemies — Elon Musk among them — as he vetted candidates to join the administration.
Then there’s the prospect that Democrats could use the confirmation process and its required background investigation to raise questions about Gor. The New York Post reported in June that he had yet to submit paperwork for a security clearance as he led the screening of thousands of potential hires, though the White House pushed back on the allegations at the time. Other questions have swirled around whether his birthplace is Malta or the then-USSR.
But none of that is likely to amount to much. When Semafor inquired about Gor’s confirmation prospects, a flood of occasionally unsolicited positive comments came in.
“I have known Sergio Gor for many years from his time in the US Senate, and now working with him daily in the White House. I am confident he will make an exceptional Ambassador,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
David Warrington, White House counsel, confirmed to Semafor that “Mr. Gor is fully compliant with all applicable ethical and legal obligations,” adding: “His SF-86 form has been completed, and his security clearance is active; any insinuation otherwise would be completely false.”
And whatever Gor’s missing in the realm of formal foreign relations chops, he appears to make up for in a crucial ambassadorial attribute, clout with the president — not to mention the Republican senators who will run his confirmation.
“He’s super trusted,” a White House official told Semafor. “He’s known the president for a very long time.”
One person close to the situation downplayed the notion of needing traditional on-paper diplomatic qualifications: “Diplomatic experience is fake in this day and age. Candidly, it’s just not real. This is much more about being good at negotiation and high-stakes deal-making.”
Gor’s proximity to Trump is a positive for New Delhi amid strained relations with the US over the last several months. Beyond that, he has traveled extensively — including with White House delegations and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — and has already been on the ground in parts of the region he’ll now be focused on.
India is excited at the idea of garnering an ambassador with a direct line to Trump, according to a person familiar with the nation’s political ecosystem. This person said Gor’s position inside the administration is seen as bringing “a set of relationships into play” in the administration, starting with Trump.
“The president is supremely most important, so anybody who is in his innermost circle, has walk-in privileges, can access him anytime, naturally, would make him a special person in that respect on the Indian side,” the person said, suggesting that Gor gives India the opportunity to “progress to the next level” in a relationship with the US that’s been “quite stretched out in terms of its variables, in terms of the areas of cooperation.”
Multiple people interviewed about Gor said that he’s long wanted a role like the ambassadorship to India, and that his move comes after he’s handled a huge hiring burden for the administration.
Know More
Even so, the traditional experience factor still worries some people tracking his confirmation — as does the fact that Gor has also been tapped as special envoy in the region, a portfolio that will mirror the countries included in the State Department’s bureau.
Jawed Ashraf, who previously served as Indian ambassador to France and High Commissioner of India to Singapore, told Semafor it’s an “unusual” arrangement that “is also a source of concern.”
“Much will depend on whether the goals of the two governments are aligned, what his instructions are, how he defines his mission and how open, patient and sensitive he is in understanding India,” Ashraf said. “If his mission is more on his Special Envoy role and less on the deepening of India-US ties, then he will probably not be as successful as some of his predecessors have been.”
Indian policymakers are prepared to watch his confirmation hearing closely for clues to how he’ll manage the dual role.
Lisa Curtis, a veteran of the first Trump term who now serves as senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, told Semafor that picking Gor shows “Trump values the US-India relationship” by tapping a close ally — a sentiment that’s been widely echoed.
But she warned that India may not look kindly on a US ambassador with a separate special envoy title that “implies that he would focus attention on trying to mediate India-Pakistan issues.”
For the time being, as Semafor has reported, Gor will stay in his personnel role and work alongside Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff picked to replace him. It’s not clear when Gor might start assuming the duties of the second post Trump gave him, the non-confirmed role of Special Envoy for South and Central Asia.
And his confirmation timeline remains unclear: The person close to the situation suggested Gor may not come before the committee until spring 2026 — a timeline that matches up with the lengthy wait for confirmation that many ambassadorial picks are seeing.
But Gor may be able to cut the line, so to speak, given that the 38-year-old former aide to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., maintains close ties on the Hill.
“All these notions about how he’s hated by the neocons — no, he’s been very, very good with the Senate. He talks to a lot of them very frequently,” the person close to the situation added.
Room for Disagreement
The person familiar with India’s political ecosystem disputed the notion that Gor would be guaranteed to face extra scrutiny on the ground there for serving as special envoy and ambassador at the same time.
“I would not jump to that at this stage,” the person said, adding that many in India would look at his envoy job “purely based on intention, which is [to handle duties under the] South and Central Asia Bureau.”
Shelby’s view
For all the public drama in Trump’s second term, behind the scenes things are sometimes more placid than they seem. Gor looks like a classic case of negative headlines that are more related to the past (his presidential personnel job) than his future (in diplomacy, as he’s said to have long wanted).
It was also clear to me, while reporting on Gor, that Trump personally cares about this nomination — which isn’t the norm for ambassadorial picks.
That said, there’s an awareness at the White House that Musk might be the one “active” player trying to derail Gor’s nomination. Gor has been credited with privately fueling the dramatic breakup between Musk and Trump; the Tesla CEO dubbed Trump’s close confidant a “snake” over the summer.
Democrats may well make for “tough hearings” on Gor, as one person warned me.
But even if Musk does choose to get involved, he’s unlikely to derail Gor’s confirmation — after all, he’s not exactly a favored figure these days by Republicans.
And in a Trump power structure that can feel balkanized, Gor’s relationships extend far, into people close to the vice president and Donald Trump Jr.
Notable
MSNBC is still betting on fireworks during Gor’s confirmation.
The New York Times observed the “crush of negative news stories” about Gor last week as his new roles were announced.
Former President Joe Biden’s pick for US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, had to wait almost two years for confirmation, per Politico.
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