Who is Sergio Gor? Trump’s close aide named next US ambassador to India amid raging tariff war

United States President Donald Trump on Friday nominated Segio Gor, one of his closest aides, as the next US ambassador to India, an announcement that comes amid the raging tariff tensions between the two countries.

 

Gor, who is currently the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, would also serve as a special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs.

 

"I am pleased to announce that I am promoting Sergio Gor to be our next United States Ambassador to the Republic of India," Trump wrote in a social media post.

 

"Sergio is a great friend, who has been at my side for many years. He worked on my Historic Presidential Campaigns, published my Best Selling Books, and ran one of the biggest Super PACs, which supported our Movement".

 

Trump noted that Gor and his team had overseen the hiring of nearly 4,000 officials across federal departments and agencies in record time.

 

“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!,” said the president.

 

Gor will replace Eric Garcetti, who served from May 11, 2023, to January 20, 2025. Since Garcetti's departure, the US Embassy in India has been led by interim Charge d'Affaires Jorgan K. Andrews.

 

Gor, in a post on X, thanked Trump for the nomination and said it would be "the honour of my life" to represent the United States in the new role.

 

Gor would need to be confirmed by the Senate for the ambassadorship, although the special envoy role can be made simply by appointment, reported the New York Times.

 

He was valued by the president for his perceived loyalty, and his willingness to freeze out of government people he considered insufficiently pure in that regard, said the report.

 

Raging trade tensions

 

Gor’s appointment comes in the backdrop of a downturn in relations between India and the US, following President Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duty for New Delhi’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

 

The new tariff tension has soured bilateral relations, with a US delegation cancelling its planned trip to India for the next round of trade negotiations. 

 

Both India and the US have already held five rounds of negotiations, with the last round of talks held in Washington DC from July 14-18. The talks were stalled over disagreement on opening India's vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases.

World