White House official Sebastian Gorka reflected Saturday on his journey from legal immigrant to senior adviser in President Donald Trump's administration, saying his experience illustrates opportunities available in the United States.
Appearing on Newsmax TV's "Saturday Report," Gorka recounted his family's escape from communist Hungary and his path to becoming a U.S. citizen before joining Trump's first administration.
"I am an immigrant, a legal immigrant to the United States," Gorka said. "My parents escaped a communist country during the revolution in Hungary in 1956."
Gorka said he moved to the United States in 2008 after marrying an American and became a naturalized U.S. citizen several years later.
He recalled an experience from January 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated for his first term, saying it underscored what he views as the opportunities afforded by the United States.
"I still get shivers down my spine when I tell the story of what happened nine years ago," Gorka said, describing his first full day in the White House after Trump's inauguration. He said he was walking through the West Wing with an all-access identification badge about five years after taking the oath of citizenship.
"Where in the world, five years after you become a citizen of a nation, are you walking around the president or the prime minister's headquarters?" Gorka said. "Only in America."
Gorka said he considers it a privilege to again serve in the Trump administration.
"And I'm blessed to be back here serving the most consequential president of the modern age," he said.
Gorka, who was born in the United Kingdom to Hungarian parents who fled the Soviet crackdown following Hungary's 1956 uprising, served as a deputy assistant to Trump during the president's first term before leaving the White House in 2017.
He later remained an outspoken supporter of Trump through media appearances and political commentary.
Trump appointed Gorka to return to the White House in his second administration, where he serves in a national security role.
The comments come as the Trump administration continues to emphasize immigration enforcement and distinguish between legal and illegal immigration. Administration officials have repeatedly argued that their policies are aimed at restricting unlawful immigration while supporting legal pathways into the country.
Gorka's remarks highlighted his own immigration experience as an example of what he described as the opportunities available through legal immigration, while tying his personal story to his service under Trump.
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