EXCLUSIVE: Trump's Secret AI Chats Under Scrutiny — Congress Demands Grok Records After Venezuela Military Operation

The scrutiny centers on whether President Trump used artificial intelligence chatbots, such as Grok, to inform presidential decisions. Grok, developed by Elon Musk's xAI, is a type of AI chatbot designed to simulate human conversation and generate text based on user inputs. Lawmakers specifically questioned if Trump sought Grok's assessment of Venezuelan public sentiment regarding the capture of Nicolás Maduro, prior to ordering a U.S. military operation that resulted in Maduro's capture.

Democratic Representatives Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia contend that presidential conversations with AI systems, including prompts from White House staff, are federal records belonging to the United States and must be preserved. Their demand extends to other platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. This highlights a growing challenge in government transparency: how to document interactions with AI that may influence official actions.

Beyond record-keeping, lawmakers are concerned about the potential for sensitive government information to be stored on privately operated AI servers. They argue this could create national security risks regarding data security and external access. The congressional demand does not establish wrongdoing or that Grok directly influenced the Venezuela operation, but it underscores a consequential question about the documentation and security of AI-generated advice in presidential decision-making.

Lawmakers have requested a briefing to examine Trump's AI use and the administration's policies for preserving and securing chatbot conversations, including cybersecurity safeguards. A White House official indicated the administration preserves legally required records, but the dispute brings to light broader implications for government accountability and data protection as AI tools become more integrated into high-level operations.