Brushing aside international law
Trump informs us that he doesn’t have to pay any attention to laws or treaties or precedent or anything else that might prevent him from doing whatever he wants all the time.
President Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,” brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world.
Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
“I don’t need international law,” he added. “I’m not looking to hurt people.”
That’s not true, of course, but even if it were, it wouldn’t be a reason for throwing out laws or treaties.
Mr. Trump’s assessment of his own freedom to use any instrument of military, economic or political power to cement American supremacy was the most blunt acknowledgment yet of his worldview. At its core is the concept that national strength, rather than laws, treaties and conventions, should be the deciding factor as powers collide.
Also known as Might Makes Right. That is of course the negation of any form of moral constraint.
He made clear that he uses his reputation for unpredictability and a willingness to resort quickly to military action, often in service of coercing other nations. During his interview with The Times, he took a lengthy call from President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, who was clearly concerned after repeated threats that Mr. Trump was thinking of an attack on the country similar to the one on Venezuela.
How about Brazil next? Argentina? Chile? Peru?
The call between the two leaders, the contents of which were off the record, was an example of coercive diplomacy in action. And it came just hours after Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had extracted the United States from dozens of international organizations intended to foster multinational cooperation.
Because international war and international colonialism is so much better than international organizations fostering multinational cooperation.
I can’t wait for Trump to leave the UN entirely, including vacating the permanent member’s seat and veto at the Security Council.
But it wouldn’t be Trump leaving.
What Trump and his minions don’t realize is that the country that has benefited most from the UN and the whole post-war order is the United States.
Ophelia, when Trump says his only constraint is his own morality, I hear “l’état, c’est moi.”
No checks on presidential power? I recall large numbers of conservatives brushing off concerns about Trump’s blustering, citing the checks and balances as reasons we do not need to fear Trump’s excesses. Where are those useful fools now?
Also of note, Trump admits USA’s word is dogshit so long as he or a like-minded successor are at the helm.
The Republicans, the political party that have spent almost fifty years bashing “big government” and “the over-reaching state”, have now meekly let this autocratic goon take over the US.
Since he thinks that if Machado hands him her Peace Prize he actually earned it, this man is living in a state of delusion. Yes, Sumi, he thinks he is the state, he’s World Leader Pretend.
[Apologies, comment held because of missing letter in email address]