Elon Musk on Wednesday lashed out at White House personnel chief Sergio Gor, calling him a "snake" amid reports that Gor has yet to complete the security clearance process required for his role vetting Trump administration staffers.
"He’s a snake," Musk, who left his role at the White House as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month, wrote on X as a reply to one X user posting the report.
Reports suggest one reason behind escalated tensions between the Tesla CEO, who then was a special government employee, and the US administration was Trump's withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's nomination for NASA administrator.
Isaacman, a Musk ally, saw his nomination pulled amid rumors that Gor influenced the decision, though this has been disputed, as some Republican senators put Isaacman's history as a Democratic donor as the reason for the withdrawal.
The relationship between Trump and Musk, once marked by collaboration and mutual support, has devolved into a highly public and acrimonious feud.
The fallout began in late May, when Musk publicly criticized Trump’s Congressional spending bill and later labeled it a "disgusting abomination."
The dispute escalated rapidly on social media. Trump, expressing disappointment, threatened to terminate government contracts and subsidies for Musk’s companies, including SpaceX and Starlink.
Musk responded by accusing Trump of ungratefulness, even alluding to alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein, which he later backstepped.
The tech billionaire also supported calls for Trump’s impeachment and hinted at forming a new political party in the U.S.
