Tag: venezuela

President Trump Discusses Powerful Sonic Weapon Used to Take Out Venezuelan Soldiers During Maduro Capture

President Trump’s Oval Office interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas aired on Wednesday evening, and it covered various topics such as the ICE surge in Minneapolis, the crackdown on fraud, the economy, 2028, and more.

At one point during the one-hour interview, Tom Llamas asked President Trump about the sonic weapon used to take out Venezuelan soldiers during the Maduro capture.

Last month, the Army’s Delta Force captured Maduro after President Trump ordered military strikes on the South American country.

Venezuela said over 100 security officials and soldiers were killed in the US’s operation to capture Maduro.

No US forces were killed. President Trump said a few US service members were injured during the operation, but they are recovering.

According to an eyewitness account, the US military used weaponry and technology unlike anything he had ever seen.

“On the day of the operation, we didn’t hear anything coming. We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation. The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react,” the security guard recounted.

After those drones appeared, some helicopters arrived, but there were very few. I think barely eight helicopters. From those helicopters, soldiers came down, but a very small number. Maybe twenty men. But those men were technologically very advanced. They didn’t look like anything we’ve fought against before.

“And then the battle began?” the interviewer asked.

“Yes, but it was a massacre. We were hundreds, but we had no chance. They were shooting with such precision and speed. It seemed like each soldier was firing 300 rounds per minute. We couldn’t do anything,” the witness said.

“And your own weapons? Didn’t they help?” the interviewer asked.

“No help at all. Because it wasn’t just the weapons. At one point, they launched something—I don’t know how to describe it. It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside. We all started bleeding from the nose. Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move,” he said.

“Those twenty men, without a single casualty, killed hundreds of us. We had no way to compete with their technology, with their weapons. I swear, I’ve never seen anything like it. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon or whatever it was,” the eyewitness said.

Tom Llamas asked President Trump about the “discombobulator” used to take out the Venezuelan soldiers.

“You talked about the weapon – the discombobulator – what is that?” Llamas asked Trump.

“Discombobulator, well, I’m not allowed to talk about it. Let me just tell you, you know what it does? None of their equipment works, that’s what it does!” Trump said.

“It was my name – I’m very proud of the name. It was discombobulated. It was, you know, practically a shot wasn’t fired. You know, they were ready!” Trump said.

“Tom, it discombobulated everything!” Trump said.

“Nothing worked, even including humans!” Llamas said.

“Well, let’s put it this way. We lost no equipment in a very strong, and they’re good fighters, great fighters, in a very bad environment. It was a military base, the biggest in South America, in a very, because the house was in a base in South, in a very, very tough environment. We lost no men and we lost no equipment,” Trump said.

“It discombobulated.. just knocked everything,” Llamas said.

“Well, it did something!” Trump said.

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Senate Armed Service Committee Member Profited From Venezuela Invasion

Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) has cultivated an image as a Rambo-type hero, which was burnished in August 2021 when he took an unauthorized trip to Afghanistan to try to help rescue people fleeing the Taliban after they returned to power in Afghanistan.

A former mixed martial arts fighter and wrestler who champions the Trump administration’s trillion-dollar-plus military budget, Mullin is a super-hawk sitting on the Senate Armed Services Committee who criticized President Joe Biden for supposedly “appeasing” countries like Iran.

In 2022, Mullin introduced a bill in Congress that would allow U.S. citizens to volunteer to fight Russia on behalf of Ukraine, claiming that thousands of Americans were ready to fight communism. (Lacking even a bachelor’s degree, Mullin does not seem to realize that Russia under Vladimir Putin is not a communist country.)[1]

While Mullin may genuinely subscribe to reactionary political views,[2] his opportunism was disclosed in an article in The Oklahoman in late January, which revealed that he had bought Chevron and RTX (formerly Raytheon) stock just days before U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in an illegal Special Forces raid, Operation Absolute Resolve.

A spokesperson for Mullin told The Oklahoman that the purchases were made without Mullin’s input by a firm that manages his stock trading. This excuse seems to be disingenuous since Mullin had to have green-lighted the stock trades and did not demand their cancelation or say that he sold back the RTX and Chevron stock shares after they were disclosed.

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US planning CIA foothold in post-Maduro Venezuela

The CIA is quietly working to establish a permanent US presence on the ground in Venezuela, spearheading the Trump administration’s plans to exert its newfound influence over the country’s future, according to multiple sources familiar with the planning.

Planning discussions between the CIA and State Department have centered around what the US footprint inside Venezuela will look like, both in the short and long term, after the dramatic capture of former President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.

While the State Department will serve as the primary, long-term US diplomatic presence in the country, the Trump administration will likely lean heavily on the CIA to initiate that re-entry process due to the ongoing political transition and unstable security situation in Venezuela post-Maduro, the sources added.

“State plants the flag but CIA is really the influence,” one source familiar with the planning process told CNN, noting the agency’s near-term objectives include setting the stage for diplomatic efforts – including relationship building with locals – and providing security.

In the short term, US officials may operate out of a CIA annex, prior to the opening of an official embassy, allowing them to start making informal contact with members of different factions of Venezuela’s government as well as opposition figures and target third parties who may be threats, the source said, drawing a parallel to the agency’s work in Ukraine.

“Setting up an annex is priority number one. Before diplomatic channels the annex can help set up liaison channels, that will be with the Venezuelan intelligence and that will allow conversations that diplomats cannot have,” said a former US government official who engaged with the Venezuelans.

The CIA declined to comment.

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The New York Times Is Trying To Rebrand Venezuela’s New Dictator as a Serious Thinker

The New York Times has depicted Nicolás Maduro’s successor—Venezuelan dictator Delcy Rodríguez—as a pragmatic technocrat, a market-friendly reformer, and a “cosmopolitan” who helped to stabilize the Venezuelan economy. The Times claims that Hugo Chávez’s socialist revolution has evolved into a “brutal capitalism” under Rodríguez’s purview. “A relative moderate,” Times reporter Anatoly Kurmanaev wrote, “Ms. Rodríguez is the architect of a market-friendly overhaul that has stabilized the Venezuelan economy after a prolonged collapse.”

In a series of articles bylined or co-authored by Kurmanaev and Simón Romero, Rodríguez is credited with heading “a market-friendly overhaul which had provided a semblance of economic stability.” One article states that “hyperinflation was halted and economic growth returned” under her watch. The Times’ reporter Pranav Baskar has underscored Rodríguez’s credentials and style, writing that she presents “herself as a cosmopolitan technocrat in a militaristic and male-dominated government.” Romero and Kurmanaev have contrasted her “technocratic, numbers-heavy communication” approach with Maduro’s “folksy style.”

The article that provoked the most outrage in Venezuela’s expat community was published last September and bylined by Times reporter Julie Turkewitz, who was granted “a rare visa for foreign journalists” and traveled to Caracas for an interview with Rodríguez. The resulting article featured a portrait of the now-dictator, stylishly dressed, looking introspective and calm, as she peered through a window, casting a gentle glow on her face.

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‘Nobody Else Has It’: Trump Confirms Mysterious US ‘Sonic Weapon’ Used During Capture of Venezuela’s Maduro

A ‘secret’ weapon was used in Caracas Op, Trump confirms.

On January 3, US special operators realized a jaw-dropping operation that neutralized air defense over the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and invaded the heavily guarded presidential palace of Miraflores, extracting dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, taking them back to New York to stand trial.

In the raid, dozens of Cuban and Venezuelan guards were killed, while the US suffered no fatalities.

One of the most mysterious aspects of the operation, which US President Donald J. Trump has now confirmed, is that US special forces are said to have used a ‘secret sonic weapon’ during the daring capture of Maduro.

Daily Mail reported:

“The President on Tuesday night bragged that ‘nobody else’ has the weapon, while glorifying the capabilities of the US military.

[…] [NewsNation anchor Katie Pavlich] asked Trump whether Americans should be ‘afraid’ of these sonic devices.

‘Well yeah,’ Trump responded. He then added that only the US military has access to the sonic weapons by noting, ‘It’s something I don’t want to… nobody else has it’.”

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Venezuela calls for ‘symbolic’ social media action after Trump posts altered map on Truth Social

Venezuela’s government on Jan 20 called on citizens to post its official map on social media as a “symbolic action” after US President Donald Trump posted an altered image showing US flags over Venezuela, as well as Canada and Greenland.

The image, posted on Mr Trump’s Truth Social just before 1am Eastern Time (2pm in Singapore), shows an altered version of an August 2025 photo of European leaders in the Oval Office with Mr Trump, with the original map replaced with one showing US flags over Venezuela and much of North America.

The photo includes images of Britain’s Keir Starmer, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, France’s Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen – even as Mr Trump himself and other world leaders travelled to Davos for the World Economic Forum.

“In light of this situation, the Venezuelan State calls on all citizens to take symbolic action in unity, with the aim of defending territorial integrity and countering misinformation,” Venezuela’s government said in a statement.

It urged its population to post on social media its official map of Venezuela, which includes Esequibo – some two-thirds of neighbouring Guyana that is claimed by Venezuela, though this is not recognised by any major country or by the UN.

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Three Venezuelan Illegal Immigrants Arrested in Minneapolis Ambush of ICE Agent 

Three men have been arrested in Minneapolis and are facing federal charges following what authorities described as an “attempted murder” of a federal immigration officer during a law enforcement operation on Wednesday night, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as reported by The New York Post.

DHS officials said the suspects — Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma — are all illegal immigrants from Venezuela who entered the United States during the Biden administration.

All three men are currently being held in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Three men have been arrested in Minneapolis and are facing federal charges following what authorities described as an “attempted murder” of a federal immigration officer during a law enforcement operation on Wednesday night, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as reported by The New York Post.

DHS officials said the suspects — Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma — are all illegal immigrants from Venezuela who entered the United States during the Biden administration.

All three men are currently being held in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

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War Powers Resolution: The Senate Had One Job

On January 14, a “war powers resolution” went down to defeat in the US Senate on a 50-50 vote, with vice president JD Vance breaking the tie.

The resolution, which would have required US president Donald Trump to at least casually mention to Congress that he planned more military misadventures in Venezuela before, rather than after, launching such misadventures, was a half-hearted half-measure, but somehow only half of US Senators could bring themselves to go even that far.

Let’s go over the way things are supposed to work:

The US Constitution assigns the power to declare war to Congress, not to the president.

If the president attacks another country without such a declaration, it’s not a war, it’s just a crime — a “high crime” legally meriting and ethically requiring that president’s impeachment and removal from office.

Unfortunately, presidents have been getting away with such crimes on a routine basis since the end of World War 2. The list is too long to fit in an op-ed, but a few high points include Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Those conflicts weren’t wars, at least so far as US law was concerned. They were criminal acts carried out by lawless presidents with the acquiescence — and often co-conspiracy — of Congress.

Toward the end of the Vietnam fiasco, Congress passed (and overrode Richard Nixon’s veto of) something called the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

Nixon’s veto message claimed that the Resolution included “unconstitutional restrictions” on his power to kill as many people as he pleased, when and how it pleased him to kill those people.

What it actually included was an unconstitutional — absent ratification by 3/4 of the states’ legislatures — repeal of the Constitution’s Article I, Section 8 assignment of the power to declare war solely and exclusively to Congress.

The Resolution supposedly gave the president wiggle room to engage in illegal military operations if he got congressional “authorization” or made up a “national emergency,” and as long as he subsequently bothered to tell Congress about it.

Why would Congress (a notoriously power-hungry body) try so hard to give up its power to declare war? Because if there’s anything a politician hates more than he or she loves power, it’s being held responsible for the consequences of exercising that power. By trying to give up its power, Congress thought it could also rid itself of culpability.

The Senate had one job to do. It wasn’t an especially hard job, it wouldn’t have had any great effect (even if it passed the House, Trump would have vetoed it), and it didn’t even meet the bare minimum constitutional standard.

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Pam Bondi Reveals Classified Leaker Behind Trump’s Venezuela Operation Was Pentagon IT Contractor

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has unmasked the traitor behind the illegal leak of classified information about President Trump’s bold Venezuela operation.

Pam Bondi revealed Wednesday night that the individual responsible for leaking classified information about President Trump’s Venezuela operation was an IT contractor for the Department of War and he is now sitting in jail.

The disclosure came during an explosive interview with Sean Hannity, where Bondi confirmed that the Trump DOJ and FBI are aggressively pursuing those who leak classified military intelligence and the media figures who obtain and publish it.

As previously reported by The Gateway Pundit, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Alexandria, Virginia, home of a Washington Post reporter who obtained and reported on classified and illegally leaked Pentagon material.

The reporter, Hannah Natanson, is not the subject of the investigation, but federal agents seized:

  • Her cell phone
  • Two laptops (one personal, one work-issued)
  • A Garmin watch

According to the Washington Post, Natanson was inside her home at the time the warrant was executed.

The search was conducted at the request of the Department of War, according to Bondi.

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US gets first $500 million Venezuelan oil deal, holding some proceeds in Qatar

The Trump administration’s first sale of Venezuelan oil is valued at $500 million, an administration official told Semafor.

The sale marks an initial milestone in the administration’s stewardship of Venezuela after the US ouster of its former leader, Nicolás Maduro, 11 days ago. President Donald Trump has indicated that the US would effectively run Venezuela for an indeterminable amount of time and take control of up to 50 million barrels of its oil — marketing and selling it while distributing the proceeds back to Venezuela in an arrangement with little precedent.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday that provided some details on how the US plans to block courts or creditors from tapping any revenue from those oil sales. Venezuela owes international bondholders, oil companies and others as much as $170 billion — one reason why US firms have been reluctant to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure.

Trump told ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance last week that the US is “not going to look at what people lost in the past, because that was their fault.”

The administration official told Semafor that the interim leadership in Venezuela, led by former Maduro No. 2 Delcy Rodríguez, has “fully cooperated” since the US-Venezuelan energy deal was announced last week, adding that the US has “leverage” through sanctions and oil sales.

Revenue from the oil sales is currently being held in bank accounts controlled by the US government, as indicated in Friday’s order, according to the administration official. The main account, according to a second senior administration official, is located in Qatar.

The second official described Qatar as a neutral location where money can flow freely with US approval and without risk of seizure. Trump’s order noted that at least some of the revenue would be held in US Treasury accounts.

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