Though he has ceased his online fighting with Trump, Elon Musk, a former presidential adviser and megabacker, will continue to publicly criticize members of Trump’s government.
In a late-night attack on Wednesday, the ex-chief of DOGE called Sergio Gor a “snake” for his part in the president’s separation with him and other key advisers.
Musk responded to a New York Post article that claimed White House personnel office head Gor had not been adequately investigated by writing, “He’s a snake” on his social media site X.
A permanent security clearance is something that Gor, despite overseeing the screening of thousands of White House employees, has allegedly not yet applied for, as reported by the Post.
However, according to the White House, Gor possesses a current security clearance and is “fully compliant” with all the relevant standards.
It is my firm belief that Mr. Gor satisfies all ethical and legal requirements. According to White House attorney David Warrington, any suggestion that he does not have a security clearance is unfounded because his clearance is active.
Vance praised Gor’s “effort to ensure committed, principled America First advocates staff the President’s government,” and he added, “he’s done a great job, and will continue to do so.” Vance, the vice president, also stood behind Gor.
After a contentious March Cabinet meeting in which the billionaire clashed with other members over agency budget cuts, Trump clarified that agency heads, not DOGE’s Musk, had authority over their departments. This exacerbated long-simmering tensions between the two advisers, and Musk eventually refused to collaborate with Gorafter.
But things got out of hand when Gor helped have Jared Isaacman’s candidacy to lead NASA, which Musk had supported, withdrawn.
Musk went on a social media rampage denouncing the president and the “Big Beautiful Bill” he was trying to get passed in Congress soon after the decision to withdraw Isaacman’s appointment.
Trump blamed Musk’s outburst on his decision to withdraw Isaacman’s candidacy, which he made at the time.
Their relationship took a nosedive after the altercation, which occurred just before Musk was supposed to step down from his government position.
Trump has stated that he has “no hard feelings” against his erstwhile ally, and Musk has issued an apology on X, claiming that he “went too far” in his criticisms on the president during their dispute. Since then, however, it appears that tensions between the two men have subsided.
The White House was concerned that the public feud was diverting attention from administrative goals, so Trump especially tried to minimize it.