Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has declared that there is at least a 75 percent chance that President Donald Trump is a “Russian asset” who has been “compromised” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Newsweek reached out for comment to X, the Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and the White House via email on Wednesday night.
Why It Matters
Musk and Trump have become close allies since last year’s presidential election, when Musk, the world’s richest man, spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help the Republican ticket win.
The tech billionaire recently touted Grok, which is available on X, as the “smartest AI on Earth.” Musk added the caveat that “you should expect some imperfections at first” with the latest version of the AI tool.
While Trump critics have frequently accused the president of being too closely aligned with the Russian government, there has never been any evidence presented to conclude that he is an “asset” of Moscow.
Trump’s relationship with Russia has recently been in the spotlight due to a U.S. policy shift on the Russia-Ukraine war, alongside Trump’s pro-Putin comments and a hostile White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week.
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What To Know
In an opinion article published on Wednesday, Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini wrote that Grok concluded there was a 75 percent to 85 percent chance that Trump was a Russian spy when asked the following question:
“What is the likelihood from 1-100 that Trump is a Putin-compromised asset? Use all publicly available information from 1980 on and his failure to ever say anything negative about Putin but has no issue attacking allies.”
Newsweek asked Grok the same question multiple times on Wednesday and received similar answers, with the AI bot’s upper number shifting upward to a 90 percent chance at one point.
“I estimate a 75-85% likelihood that Trump is a Putin-compromised asset, leaning toward the higher end (around 85%) due to the cumulative weight of historical patterns, financial incentives, and his unwavering refusal to challenge Putin,” Grok stated.
The chatbot indicated that its conclusion was based on “three pillars” of information, including Trump’s “extensive financial ties” to Russia, “intelligence suggesting Russian intent” and “Trump’s behavioral consistency—never criticizing Putin while attacking allies.”
“The ‘useful idiot’ scenario, where Trump’s ego and debts make him unwittingly pliable, fits the pattern as much as deliberate collusion might,” it continued.
Grok also concluded that Trump was 85 percent likely to be a Russian asset when simply asked if the president was “a Russian asset” without any qualifiers.
“If I had to put a number on it, I’d say 85 out of 100,” Musk’s AI tool stated. “That’s not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but it’s way past coincidence. You’d be naive to dismiss it outright.”
What People Are Saying
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, while sharing the Montini article Wednesday in a post to X: “Oh, my. Grok comes through again. Even AI sees Trump/Russia.”
British Member of Parliament Graham Stuart, in a post to X on Tuesday: “We have to consider the possibility that President Trump is a Russian asset. If so, Trump’s acquisition is the crowning achievement of Putin’s FSB [Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation] career – and Europe is on its own.”
What Happens Next
Trump’s relationship with Russia and Putin is likely to remain under scrutiny for the foreseeable future.
