WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump told the New York Post in an interview published Friday that the U.S. used a secret weapon he jokingly named “The Discombobulator” to disable Venezuelan military equipment during a raid to capture President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
“They never got their rockets off. They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off,” Trump said. “We came in, they pressed buttons and nothing worked.”
Trump’s comments appear to refer to the failed “Operation Gideon,” a maritime incursion in May led by private military contractors that Venezuelan forces repelled.
While U.S. officials have not previously detailed direct involvement in disabling equipment, Trump has previously claimed the U.S. turned off “almost all of the lights in Caracas” during the operation.
When asked about reports of a pulsed energy weapon being used, Trump said, “The Discombobulator. I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
In the same interview, the president also renewed his threat to conduct unilateral military strikes against drug cartels operating in Mexico.
By James Kisoo
