- U.S. President Donald Trump used Grok during a closed-door meeting with Elon Musk in December 2025 to assess how Venezuelans might react to the capture of then-President Nicolas Maduro, TIME reported.
- The meeting occurred about a month before the U.S. operation in Caracas that captured Maduro.
- TIME sources said Trump later considered Grok “ingenious” after celebrations took place in Venezuela.
U.S. President Donald Trump used Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot during a closed-door meeting in December 2025 to assess how Venezuelans might react to the capture of the country’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro, TIME reported. The consultation occurred about a month before the U.S. operation in Caracas that captured Maduro.
According to a source cited by TIME, Trump spent several hours asking Grok about his presidency, the political situation and the potential consequences of the operation.
Grok’s assessment of Maduro
At the time of the meeting, the United States was already carrying out strikes on Venezuelan boats that the Trump administration accused of transporting drugs. TIME reported that Trump asked Grok how Venezuela’s population might respond if the United States captured Maduro.
An official who attended the meeting said the chatbot described Maduro as a “repressive and deeply unpopular dictator” and said many Venezuelans would probably “celebrate his downfall.”
After it became known in February 2026 that the United States had carried out the operation, celebrations took place in Venezuela. TIME sources said Trump later considered Grok “ingenious.”
Before Trump’s meeting with Musk, users had also asked Grok about U.S. strikes on Venezuelan boats and the country’s political situation.
Use of AI in U.S. government systems
Trump’s consultation came as generative artificial intelligence was being introduced more broadly across U.S. government and military operations.
In June 2026, a Pentagon spokesperson said Gov Grok was being used for work related to deploying and tasking strikes during the war with Iran. Separately, the Pentagon announced that it was integrating Grok into its artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
Grok is not the only model used by U.S. government agencies. OpenAI also has an agreement with the Pentagon, while the military use of Anthropic models remains disputed. The Trump administration and Anthropic have diverged over the potential use of artificial intelligence for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons.
Trump also recently signed an executive order ushering in an era of “superintelligence” and reached an agreement with technology companies on four levels of oversight.
Source: Incrypted
