Report says Trump asked Musk’s Grok about capturing Venezuela’s leader

In short: A report says President Trump privately consulted Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot before the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

What happened

Time magazine reports that in December 2025, President Trump held a secret meeting with Elon Musk and spent hours interacting with Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot (a computer program you can talk to like a text conversation). The report says Trump asked how Venezuelans might respond if Maduro were captured.

According to Time, Grok told Trump that Maduro was a “deeply unpopular dictator” and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. Time cited a source who described Trump leaving the meeting impressed with Grok’s responses.

The TechCrunch write-up also points to earlier public reporting that people were already using Grok to ask about U.S. actions involving Venezuela, including reported military strikes against Venezuelan boats. It adds that after the January 3 invasion, celebrations did occur in some places, which the Time source said reinforced Trump’s view of the chatbot.

TechCrunch notes this would not be the first time Grok has been linked to military use. It cites earlier comments from the Pentagon’s head of AI saying the military used “Gov Grok” during the Iran War. It also mentions the Pentagon recently tapped Musk and defense tech executive Palmer Luckey to co-lead a study on how advanced technology may be used in battle.

Why it matters

This report highlights how AI chatbots can influence high-stakes decisions, even though they can be wrong or overly confident, like a fast-talking adviser who does not show their sources. It also raises questions about how governments should set rules for when, and how, AI tools are used in military and foreign policy decisions.

Source: TechCrunch AI