Overview
- In an Oval Office interview with the New York Post, President Trump said a classified system he calls the Discombobulator made Venezuelan defenses “not work” during the Jan. 3 Caracas raid.
- Trump said Venezuelan forces equipped with Russian and Chinese rockets could not fire as U.S. helicopters moved in to seize Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores.
- Eyewitness accounts from Maduro’s security detail describe sudden radar failures, the arrival of drones and helicopters, and intense symptoms such as nosebleeds, vomiting blood, and collapse; White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reposted one such account on Jan. 10.
- A senior U.S. official told CNN that multiple capabilities were used in the operation, including cyber tools to disable defenses and existing acoustic systems to disorient personnel, casting doubt on a single new “weapon.”
- Trump’s remarks followed media reports about U.S. procurement of a pulsed‑energy device linked by some to “Havana Syndrome,” while Maduro remains in federal custody in Brooklyn awaiting trial and Delcy Rodríguez serves as Venezuela’s interim leader.