President Donald Trump has claimed the United States used a classified tool he dubbed “The Discombobulator” during the operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, saying the technology rendered enemy hardware useless. In the same interview, he also repeated warnings that U.S. military action against drug cartels could expand beyond South America, potentially reaching Mexico and other parts of the region.
Trump made the remarks in a Friday interview with the New York Post, responding to reports about a pulsed energy weapon allegedly deployed during the raid.
Asked about the device, the Republican president offered little detail, saying, “The Discombobulator. I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
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According to Trump, the weapon shut down Venezuelan systems at a critical moment. “They never got their rockets off. They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off,” Trump said in the interview. “We came in, they pressed buttons and nothing worked. They were all set for us.”
He added that the technology caused Venezuelan equipment to “not work,” reiterating earlier comments he made about the operation. Trump had previously said the U.S. effectively switched off “almost all of the lights in Caracas” during the raid on Maduro’s compound, without explaining how that was achieved.
Apart from Venezuela, Trump suggested the administration’s military campaign could widen as it intensifies efforts against international drug trafficking networks. He said U.S. forces have detailed intelligence on cartel operations and locations.
“We know their routes. We know everything about them. We know their homes. We know everything about them,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit the cartels.”
When pressed on whether such strikes could take place in Central America or Mexico, he replied: “Could be anywhere.”
The comments came as the U.S. confirmed a strike Friday on an alleged drug trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the first reported since Maduro’s capture. That action brings the total to at least 36 known strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since early September, operations that have reportedly resulted in at least 117 deaths, according to the AP.
Trump also said the United States has seized seven oil tankers linked to Venezuela and removed their cargo, though he declined to say where the vessels are currently located.
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“I’m not allowed to tell you,” Trump said. “But let’s put it this way, they don’t have any oil. We take the oil.”
During the interview, Trump touched on a range of other topics, including a Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado, which he said she gave to him earlier this month. He told the newspaper he was still deciding where to place it, noting that it was leaning against a statue in the Oval Office.
He also discussed a proposed Arctic security framework negotiated with NATO Secretary General Mark Ruttte, claiming it would grant the U.S. ownership of land hosting American bases.
“We’ll have everything we want,” Trump said. “We have some interesting talks going on.”
Details of that potential agreement remain unsettled. Officials in Denmark and Greenland have stated that Greenland’s sovereignty is not up for negotiation, while a NATO spokesperson said Rutte did not suggest any “compromise to sovereignty” in discussions with Trump.
The president closed the interview with lighter commentary, saying he would skip this year’s Super Bowl and criticizing the choice of Bad Bunny and Green Day as halftime performers, calling it a “terrible choice.” He attended last year’s game in New Orleans.
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