Donald Trump has never demonstrated any meaningful understanding of technological developments. But the president has apparently become quite enamored with artificial intelligence of late, repeatedly insisting that public officials reject any industry guardrails or public safeguards.

“Whoever wins AI, wins,” he has repeatedly said, while failing to finish the sentence and explain what, specifically, he believes the victor of the AI arms race will win.

As for why he’s so impressed with the technology, there’s apparently an interesting backstory to keep in mind. Time magazine reported:

Since returning to office, Trump has marveled at AI’s capabilities. He is increasingly in thrall to the tech executives courting him. In December 2025, Elon Musk returned to the Oval Office for a clandestine meeting. Trump spent hours asking Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot, questions about his presidency and legacy, according to an official present.

At the time, Trump was ordering missile strikes against Venezuelan boats he alleged were smuggling drugs into the U.S. He asked Grok how Venezuelans would react if the U.S. captured [then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro]. According to the official present, the chatbot responded that Maduro was a repressive and deeply unpopular dictator and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. After Trump ordered the mission to seize Maduro, the following month, celebrations broke out in the streets. Trump, according to officials, came away thinking Grok was ingenious.

If the story is accurate, it’s unsettling for all sorts of reasons. In fact, right off the bat, there’s a historical dimension to the anecdote: This was almost certainly the first time in American history that a sitting president consulted an AI chatbot about a provocative foreign policy gambit.

The other thing that stood out for me about this is how easily impressed Trump is. At a moment’s notice, the president could have summoned members of his foreign policy team and State Department officials with vast expertise in South American affairs to offer him detailed guidance on the best way forward for U.S. policy in Venezuela. Indeed, they likely would’ve told him the same thing as Musk’s Grok program — which likely generated an answer based in part on the assessments of those same officials.

This was, in other words, less evidence of an “ingenious” chatbot, and more evidence of a program telling the president something that wasn’t exactly tough to figure out. Trump didn’t need AI; he needed the patience to sit through a meeting on foreign policy without falling asleep.

As for the broader circumstances, let’s not brush past the fact that Trump continues to have “clandestine” interactions with a Republican megadonor whose overt racism and antisemitism should make him politically radioactive, even if the White House apparently disagrees.

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