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At a party Monday night to celebrate Sergio Gor's swearing-in as President Trump's new U.S. ambassador to India, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials told party attendees stories about the top aide who until recently held one of the most powerful — if largely anonymous — roles in government. Gor served as director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, vetting and hiring thousands of officials to work in the Trump administration. Rubio recalled sitting in a London restaurant with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Gor during President Trump's state visit in September. "All of a sudden this guy walks in," Rubio recalled. "I'm like, 'Oh my God, that's Mick Jagger.'" The lead singer of the Rolling Stones sat down two tables away. "And Sergio's like, 'I'm going go up to him. I'm going to get his picture,'" Rubio said. "I go, 'Don't go up to him.' I looked it up online immediately — he's not like an enormous fan of the president. So, I'm like, 'Sergio, this might be really bad. We're in the guy's country. He's a legend in this country. I mean, I don't know how he's going react.'" Rubio said he gave Gor one instruction. "'OK, whatever you do, don't mention me — he doesn't even know who I am. And if he knows who I am, it isn't because he likes me.'" Gor approached Jagger and chatted with him, Rubio said. "All of sudden I hear: 'Marco Rubio would love to meet you. He's sitting right over there.'" Rubio said Gor introduced them, and Jagger "couldn't have been nicer." And he said that's when it occurred to him that Gor was "going to be a good ambassador." Gor's ascension to U.S. ambassador to India follows a career in Republican politics with stints at the Republican National Committee and Congress, where he worked for conservative lawmakers. More recently, Gor was the CEO of a publishing company and political organization with ties to the Trump family. As personnel director, Gor helped choose who made it into the administration — and who didn't. Earlier Monday, the president made reference to friction Gor has had with some of his aides. "Some people, when they don't like Sergio, they don't like him. But when they like him, they like him more than anybody. But most of them really are in the 'like' category." There were just enough "likes" in the Senate to confirm Gor to his new role along party lines earlier this month. Partygoers on Monday included Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Mr. Trump's White Hosue chief of staff Susie Wiles. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, talked about card games she hosts at her apartment a couple of times a month. "I do the cooking; they come and play," Pirro told the crowd. "Sergio — and this is where we're really going to miss you — Sergio cheats at cards," Pirro said, to laughter. "Sergio, may your diplomatic deals be as unbeatable as your poker face." Rubio took the microphone and deadpanned: "I didn't know about the card cheating thing. … That was not on the application. We cannot have that. Is anybody here from India? You did not hear that." The ambassador from India, as well as ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were also in the crowd. Rubio said some U.S. ambassadors have a direct line to the president, and Gor will be among the few who do. "When Ric was in Germany, he could call the president," Rubio said, referring to former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell, "and when Sergio is in India, he can call the president. And that it's an enormous sign of respect to the country you're sending them to." Rubio said he's been on four international trips with Gor. "People ask, 'Why is the personnel director from the White House with you on these trips?' And I say, 'It's very important. We're talking about positions.' But in fact, it's because there isn't a country I've gone to yet that Sergio hasn't been (to) at least six or seven times. It's actually highly suspicious. We honestly try to ignore those things — 'Why has Sergio been in this country 18 times?'" At the Vatican for Pope Leo's inaugural mass in May, Gor told Rubio: "Oprah Winfrey's here." Rubio said Gor claimed he already knew her. "How does he know all these people?" Rubio said, to laughs. "This is very, very mysterious. I'm telling you, one day we'll know the answers."
