President Donald Trump disclosed that the United States employed a clandestine weapon to incapacitate Venezuelan military hardware during the apprehension of Nicolás Maduro. He also discussed potential ground operations against narcotics cartels, including those operating in Mexico.
The president made these remarks during a Friday interview with the New York Post.
Responding to reports about a U.S. pulsed energy weapon, the Republican president stated, “The Discombobulator. I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
He indicated that the weapon rendered Venezuelan equipment inoperable.
“They never launched their rockets. They possessed Russian and Chinese missiles, but couldn’t fire a single one,” Trump told the publication. “We moved in, they pushed buttons, and nothing functioned. They were fully prepared for us.”
When previously describing the raid on Maduro’s compound, Trump had stated that the U.S. shut down “almost all of the lights in Caracas,” though he didn’t explain the method used.
The president also signaled that the United States will persist with its military strike campaign and could expand it from South America into North America as the administration pursues drug cartels.
“We know their routes. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We have complete intelligence on them,” Trump declared. “We will strike the cartels.”
When questioned whether operations could take place in Central America or Mexico, Trump responded: “Could be anywhere.”
On Friday, the United States conducted a strike against a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, marking the first such operation since Maduro’s capture.
This brings the total to at least 36 known strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since early September, resulting in at least 117 fatalities.
Trump referenced seven Venezuelan-connected oil tankers that have been seized, but declined to disclose the ships’ current locations.
“I’m not permitted to tell you,” Trump said. “But suffice it to say, they no longer have any oil. We are taking the oil.”
During the interview, the president also mentioned he was still deciding where to display the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, which she presented to him earlier this month. The award was currently propped against a statue in the Oval Office.
Trump said that the framework of an Arctic security agreement he negotiated with NATO chief Mark Rutte would grant the United States ownership of the land housing American military bases.
“We’ll have everything we want,” Trump stated. “We have some interesting discussions underway.”
Many details of the potential agreement remain unclear. Leaders of Denmark and Greenland have stated that the island’s sovereignty is non-negotiable, and a NATO spokesperson said Rutte did not propose any “compromise to sovereignty” in his discussions with Trump.
The president commented on Bad Bunny and Green Day performing at the game, calling it a “terrible choice.” He attended last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.