U.S. President Donald Trump said a secret weapon called "Discombobulator" was used in the military operation that ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. The new weapon is believed to simultaneously neutralize enemy air defenses and electronic equipment while also inflicting physical effects on the human body.
Trump, in a New York Post interview on the 24th, formally mentioned the existence of the secret weapon that had not been disclosed until now. He said, "I can't be specific for security reasons, but this weapon rendered the enemy's equipment inoperable." He said the reason the Venezuelan military, despite being armed with Russian and Chinese rockets, was unable to return fire at all was this Discombobulator. Trump added, "When we entered, they pulled the trigger, but nothing worked. They were fully prepared to meet us, but they were helpless."
The arrest operation took place on the 3rd in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. According to major outlets, while U.S. military helicopters and drone units raided Maduro's hideout, radar and communications across Caracas were paralyzed for unknown reasons. Testimony from Venezuelan military officials suggests the weapon's power goes beyond a simple electronic warfare (EW) attack. A Maduro bodyguard at the scene recalled, "Suddenly all the radar systems shut down, and something like an intense, hard-to-explain sound wave swept over us."
The weapon is understood to have had a direct impact on the human body as well. Witnesses said they experienced severe headaches and physical abnormalities during the operation. One witness said, "It felt like my head was exploding from the inside," adding, "We all started to have nosebleeds, and some vomited blood and collapsed, unable to move." The symptoms resemble the unexplained neurological ailment known as "Havana syndrome," which affected U.S. Embassy staff in Havana, Cuba, in the past. The New York Post raised the possibility that the weapon used this time was a type of pulsed energy weapon introduced during the Biden administration.
The U.S. military achieved its objective without casualties thanks to the new weapon. Trump said, "A lethal operation was carried out in the dark," adding, "Because of certain specialized capabilities we have, most of the lights illuminating Caracas went out." U.S. special forces known as Delta Force quickly subdued the bodyguards with the Discombobulator and arrested Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores at the scene as they tried to flee to a safe house. Maduro has been extradited to the United States and is awaiting trial at the federal detention center in Brooklyn, New York, on charges of narcoterrorism and weapons possession.
Trump also cited securing control over Venezuela's resources as a result of the arrest operation. In the interview, he said, "The United States has seized seven sanctioned oil tankers and is transferring Venezuelan crude to refineries in the Houston, Texas, area." He took a hard line, saying, "Venezuela no longer has oil. We have it." He suggested that while part of the revenue will go toward Venezuela's reconstruction, U.S. oil corporations will take the lead.
Separately, in the interview, Trump added that at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos this week, he discussed securing sovereignty over areas of U.S. military bases in Greenland. He said he met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and established a new "framework of agreement" on the use of U.S. military bases in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The idea is for the United States to exercise exclusive sovereignty over those areas, similar to the British military bases in Cyprus. However, Denmark proper and Greenland's autonomous government are holding firm that ceding territory is absolutely unacceptable, raising the prospect of diplomatic friction.