New Delhi: US President Donald Trump Friday appointed loyalist and director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor as the next American ambassador to India, even as ties between New Delhi and Washington DC have been severely strained in recent weeks.
“I am pleased to announce that I am promoting Sergio Gor to be our next United States Ambassador to the Republic of India, and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs. As Director of Presidential Personnel, Sergio and his team have hired nearly 4,000 America First Patriots across every Department of our Federal Government in RECORD time,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
He added: “For the most populous Region in the World, it is important that I have someone I can fully trust to deliver on my Agenda and help us, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Sergio will make an incredible Ambassador. Congratulations Sergio!”
The post of ambassador to India has remained vacant since Trump assumed the Presidency on 20 January. America’s previous ambassador to India was Eric Garcetti, the former mayor of Los Angeles.
Gor, born in 1986, will not only be the US’ envoy to India, but also the “Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs”, which is being clubbed together with his role, which will be new for New Delhi to make sense of. Gor’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation and until then he will remain director of personnel.
“Beyond grateful to Donald Trump for his incredible trust and confidence in nominating me to be his next U.S. Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs! Nothing has made me prouder than to serve the American people through the GREAT work of this Administration! Our White House has achieved historic results in MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! It will be the honor of my life to represent the United States,” Gor said in a post on the social media platform X.
Senior Trump administration officials including Vice President J. D. Vance, Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have all come out in support of Gor’s appointment.
“I am excited about the President’s decision to nominate Sergio Gor to be our next Ambassador to India. He will be an excellent representative of America in one of the most important relationships our nation has in the world,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on X.
Gor’s appointment comes at a delicate moment in India-US ties that have hit a rough patch. From floundering negotiations for a bilateral trade deal, to criticisms over the purchase of Russian oil, to Trump’s oft repeated claim of bringing peace to the India-Pakistan conflict, the last few months have seen a number of irritants in the relationship.
On 6 August, Trump announced the imposition of additional tariffs of 25 percent on India due to New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. The penalty tariffs are set to kick in at the end of the month, which will see New Delhi’s total levies hit 50 per cent—one of the highest amongst American trading partners.
However, while Trump aide Peter Navarro and Treasury Secretary Bessent have been launching broadsides against India for the purchase of Russian crude, both Rubio and Kennedy have come out to describe ties with New Delhi positively.
“Congratulations Sergio Gor, our next Ambassador to India. Your leadership will reinforce America’s partnership with India and advance our shared interests,” Kennedy said in a post on X.
From book publisher to White House aide
Gor has been involved with Republican politicians for the better part of the last two decades. However, his growth in Trump’s second administration comes along with his nearly half-decade long business partnerships with the President’s son Donald Trump Jr.
The White House aide is reported to have been born in Uzbekistan in the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1986, before his parents reportedly moved to Malta before emigrating to the US at the end of the last millennium.
In 2008, Gor is said to have worked for the Presidential campaign of Republican nominee John McCain before going on to be the spokesperson for a number of Republican representatives including Steve King in 2010 and Michele Bachmann in 2011.
A couple of years later Gor joined a political action committee (PAC) supporting Senator Rand Paul, and eventually became the Senator’s deputy chief of staff in 2018. Eventually in 2020 Gor moved to become the chief of staff to the Trump Victory Finance Committee, a joint fundraising committee between the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign.
In 2021 along with Trump Jr., Gor launched Winning Team Publishing to “promote authors that represent the Silent Majority”. Eventually Gor was appointed director of personnel in the incoming White House in November 2024 and has been handling the staffing across the government.
His ascent into Trump’s orbit indicates that New Delhi will soon have an ambassador who likely has more access to the US President.