How This White House Official Triggered A Fallout Between Donald Trump, Elon Musk

Last Updated:June 07, 2025, 12:02 IST

Various reports have surfaced claiming that a White House official was behind the latest tiff between Donald Trump and Elon Musk over a mega tax and spending bill.

White House director of the Office of Presidential Personnel Sergio Gor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Reuters/File)

The recent feud between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk may be one of the ugliest public spats witnessed this year. The once-close allies had a bitter falling out over the White House’s $4 trillion tax and spending bill.

Their public disagreement began when Musk called the bill a “disgusting abomination". Subsequently, on Thursday, Trump stated he was “very disappointed" by Musk’s criticism and that the future of their relationship was uncertain.

The row quickly escalated as Musk claimed Trump’s name was mentioned in the files related to sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein, while sharing a post on social media calling for Trump’s impeachment. Meanwhile, Trump said Musk had “lost his mind" and threatened to cut his government contracts.

However, various reports have surfaced claiming that a White House official was behind the latest tiff between Trump and Musk, engineering a public fallout between the world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest man.

Who Was Behind Trump-Musk Feud?

According to a report by Axios, the final straw behind Musk’s relationship with Trump came when the US president abruptly announced he was withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator. Isaacman is a close friend of Musk’s and was backed by the Tesla boss.

After Isaacman’s nomination was dropped, reports surfaced that Sergio Gor, the director of the Office of Presidential Personnel who had clashed with Musk, was behind the decision. “This was Sergio’s out-the-door ‘f**k you’ to Musk," a White House official said.

Five sources told the New York Post that Gor was instrumental in the withdrawal of Isaacman’s nomination, turning a contained disagreement on legislation into a firestorm of insults. Gor had pulled up Isaacman’s donations to Democrats, including $100,000 in 2021 to a PAC linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Gor’s ‘Humiliation’ By Musk

Musk and Gor had disliked each other since before Trump took office on January 20, with the former describing Gor as “sleazy" during the transition and questioning his staffing picks. Furthermore, Gor was reportedly “humiliated" by Musk during a Cabinet meeting on March 6, when the Tesla CEO criticised the pace of staffing the administration.

Following Thursday’s feud, Gor had reportedly bragged to his colleagues about giving the billionaire “payback" for making him look bad. “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. It’s not just humiliating, but the president starts looking at him like, ‘Why aren’t you doing your f—ing job?'" a source said.

Some sources said Gor’s intensely personal dislike of Musk was illustrated by his periodic celebrations when Tesla’s stock cratered. “He’d go around showing Tesla stock prices going down and laugh about it, like he was responsible for taking the Tesla stock down," one source revealed.

Gor Denies Vendetta Rumours

As per the report, Gor had an obsession with Musk for making him look bad and spared little opportunities to gloat when Tesla’s stock price declined. He also forwarded an article to his colleagues that expressed concerns about Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

However, Gor has denied harbouring a personal vendetta against Musk and insisted that reports of him celebrating Tesla’s stock decline were false. “I fully support President Donald Trump’s decision to remove this nominee. Those who actively supported Democrats in the last cycle have no place in this administration. This was never about Elon," he said in a statement on Trump withdrawing Isaacman’s nomination for NASA administrator.

Former White House staffer Steve Bannon defended Gor and claimed Trump’s cancellation of a planned Pentagon briefing for Musk about China, and the president not acting to extend Musk’s 130-day tenure as a special government employee fuelled the dispute.

Aveek Banerjee

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...Read More

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master's in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international...

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