Sebastian Gorka: Trump Promised I’m Not Leaving White House

Sebastian Gorka and Jake Turx at the White House May 2, 2017 Image by Eamon Javers

By Nathan Guttman May 2, 2017

Strap yourself in: There’s yet another twist in the rollercoaster ride that is Sebastian Gorka’s stint at the White House.

After word spread over the weekend that the controversial counterterrorism adviser is on his way out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, now Gorka claims to have a promise from the president he can stay.

In an interview on the White House grounds on Tuesday with reporter Jake Turx of the Haredi publication Ami Magazine, Gorka claimed that he had met personally with Trump on Monday and “got assurances he’s not being asked to step down,” Ami reported in a since-deleted tweet.

Why did @Ami_Magazine delete this tweet about Dr. Gorka? pic.twitter.com/sdliJJCv7Y

— John McQuaid (@johnmcquaid) May 2, 2017

The White House stated Monday that there is “no personnel announcement at this time” concerning Gorka.

Turx won national recognition after attempting to ask President Trump about anti-Semitism during a White House press conference. Trump called Turx a “liar” and ordered him to “sit down” in what was seen as a climactic moment of Trump’s most chaotic meeting with the press since taking office.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO