Trump reportedly sought input from Musk’s AI chatbot on military strikes

Time magazine reports that Donald Trump spent hours in December 2025 putting questions to Grok, the AI chatbot built by Elon Musk, during a private Oval Office visit from Musk. A person who was in the room told the magazine that the topics included the president's time in office and his legacy. Trump also asked how Venezuelans might respond if American forces seized their then-president, Nicolás Maduro, while his administration was striking boats it accused of drug smuggling, according to MS NOW.

Grok's answer, per that official, was that Maduro ruled harshly, lacked popular support, and that his fall would probably be cheered. A month later Trump ordered the Maduro seizure, and street celebrations followed. Officials say Trump came away convinced Grok was "ingenious."

MS NOW's Steve Benen, in commentary, says no earlier sitting president almost certainly turned to a chatbot over a risky foreign policy step. He argues the answer was easy to guess, and that Trump could have gotten the same view from State Department experts and foreign policy advisers, whose assessments the chatbot likely drew on. Benen also objects to the president's continued secretive dealings with Musk, a Republican megadonor.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →