Grok reportedly told Trump Venezuelans would cheer Maduro's fall, Time says
TechCrunch, relaying a Time magazine report, says President Trump had a secret meeting with Elon Musk in December 2025. That was about a month before the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro, and roughly seven months after Musk left his role in the Trump administration at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
According to a source who spoke to Time, Trump "spent hours" talking to Musk's Grok chatbot during the meeting. That included asking how Venezuelans would respond to the capture of their president. Grok reportedly answered that Maduro was a "deeply unpopular dictator and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall," as Time reported.
The backdrop, per TechCrunch: in September, a few months before the meeting, Trump began ordering U.S. military strikes on Venezuelan boats that he alleged were involved in drug trafficking. The Atlantic had reported at the time that people were apparently turning to Grok to ask about the boat strikes and the political climate in Venezuela.
When celebrations did follow the invasion on January 3, Trump apparently "came away thinking Grok was ingenious," the same source told Time.
TechCrunch then widens the frame. In June of this year, the Pentagon's head of AI said the military used Gov Grok to deploy and strike targets during the Iran War. Grok is not the only AI model serving the Department of Defense: OpenAI also has an agreement, and Anthropic has been in a back-and-forth over how its models can be used for military intelligence and in modern warfare. TechCrunch suggests Grok may become an even bigger favorite under this administration. Earlier this week the Pentagon announced that Musk and Anduril's Palmer Luckey have been tapped to co-lead a study on how advanced technology is, and can be, used in battlefields.
One point of care: TechCrunch's headline says Grok "encouraged" Trump to capture Maduro, but the account itself describes Trump asking how Venezuelans would react and Grok describing Maduro as unpopular. It does not quote Grok urging a capture.
Key facts
- Time reports that Trump had a secret meeting with Elon Musk in December 2025, about a month before the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured Nicolás Maduro on the January 3 operation.
- A source told Time that Trump "spent hours" talking to Grok, including asking how Venezuelans would respond to the capture of their president.
- Grok reportedly said Maduro was a "deeply unpopular dictator" whom many Venezuelans would likely celebrate losing; after celebrations followed, Trump apparently "came away thinking Grok was ingenious."
- In June, the Pentagon's head of AI said the military used Gov Grok to deploy and strike targets during the Iran War.
- Earlier this week the Pentagon announced that Musk and Anduril's Palmer Luckey will co-lead a study on advanced technology in battlefields.
Why it matters
If accurate, the account shows a sitting president consulting a commercial chatbot, Musk's Grok, on a question tied to a military operation. It also sits alongside confirmed context from TechCrunch: the Pentagon's head of AI said in June that the military used Gov Grok to deploy and strike targets during the Iran War, and the Pentagon has just named Musk as co-lead of a study on advanced technology in battlefields. Together these point to growing ties between Musk's AI and the U.S. military.
Who it affects
Most directly Trump, Musk and the Pentagon, who are the people and institutions named. Venezuelans are the subject of the question Trump reportedly put to Grok. AI vendors serving the Department of Defense are also in the frame: TechCrunch notes OpenAI has an agreement and Anthropic has been in a back-and-forth over how its models can be used for military intelligence and in modern warfare.
How to use it
This is a news report, not a product or tool. A reader can use it as context for how AI chatbots are entering government and military settings, and as a prompt to follow Time's original reporting and any responses from the people named.
How solid is it
Thin on the central claim. The meeting, the hours with Grok, the question about Venezuelans and Trump's reaction all come from one unnamed source speaking to Time; TechCrunch did not independently verify the Time report, and it relays it. The source gives no response from Trump, Musk, xAI or the White House, and no venue or exact date for the meeting. Firmer points are the reported timeline (the January 3 invasion), the June statement by the Pentagon's head of AI, and the Pentagon announcement about the Musk and Luckey study, which TechCrunch attributes to the Pentagon.
Risks and caveats
The headline word "encouraged" goes further than the text: the source does not say Grok recommended or urged capturing Maduro, and it does not say whether Grok's answer influenced the decision to invade. Trump's reaction ("apparently" thinking Grok was ingenious) is secondhand. The Atlantic's observation that people were turning to Grok is also hedged with "apparently." The source does not say what Gov Grok is beyond the name, nor how it was used in targeting, and the Pentagon's head of AI is not named. TechCrunch's remark that Grok may become an even bigger favorite is the outlet's own speculation.
“came away thinking Grok was ingenious”
— A source speaking to Time about Trump's reaction, as relayed by TechCrunch