President Donald Trump reportedly consulted Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok before the United States military operation that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power in January 2026. According to a report, Trump met with Musk a month before the capture and spent hours asking Grok about the presidency and his legacy, including how Venezuelans might react to Maduro’s removal.
The operation, codenamed ‘Absolute Resolve’, involved bombers, fighters and helicopters and was carried out in Caracas. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken to an assault ship in the Caribbean, passed through Guantanamo Bay and then flown to New York. The mission was costly, with Cuba reporting that 32 of its citizens were killed during the operation.
After the extraction, celebrations erupted in some Venezuelan diaspora communities. Maduro now faces charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to transport cocaine to the United States, and he is scheduled to stand trial next June. Trump was reportedly impressed by Grok’s prediction that the Venezuelan people would celebrate the overthrow of Maduro.
Despite a reported feud between Musk and Trump early in the president’s second term, Grok has continued to play a role in the administration. The new America.gov chatbot, which provides information about federal government services, is powered in part by Grok and Google’s Gemini. Trump has also signed an executive order renaming AI to “super intelligence” and has publicly dismissed concerns about the technology’s economic impact.
Polls show that many Americans fear the potential risks of AI, with a POLITICO survey finding that a majority believe there is at least some risk that AI could destroy humanity. Trump, however, remains confident, recently posting on Truth Social that “whoever wins AI, wins” and that the United States is leading China and other nations in the field.
