Trump says only his “own morality” restrains US power, brushing off international law

United States President Donald Trump has openly dismissed international law, saying his actions on the world stage are constrained only by his “own morality” following the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people,” Trump told The New York Times on Thursday.

Pressed on whether he is bound by international law, Trump said that he is, but added that it “depends what your definition of international law is”.

The remarks underscore a growing willingness by the Trump administration to use US military force as a blunt instrument of foreign policy. Last Saturday, the US launched a pre-dawn attack on Venezuela, with explosions reported across Caracas and at several military installations.

US forces ultimately abducted Maduro from the capital, an operation critics say violated the United Nations Charter’s prohibition on “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state”.

Far from moderating Trump’s approach, the Venezuela operation appears to have sharpened his belligerence. Just weeks earlier, he had accepted the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize Award. In the aftermath of the attack, Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela and exploit its vast oil reserves, even as his administration spoke publicly about cooperation with interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Behind that rhetoric, Washington made clear it would “dictate” policy to the interim government and repeatedly threatened a “second wave” of military action if US demands were not met.

“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump said of Rodriguez in a Sunday interview with The Atlantic.

Venezuela is not the only country to find itself in Trump’s crosshairs. Earlier this week, he suggested the US might strike Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro and has escalated pressure over his long-standing ambition to acquire Greenland from Denmark.

In June, Trump also joined Israel’s war on Iran, ordering air strikes on three of the country’s main nuclear facilities.

Senior aides have framed this posture as a rejection of the post-World War II international order. Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s closest advisers, said the US would now “unapologetically” use military force to secure its interests in the Western Hemisphere.

“We’re a superpower, and under President Trump, we are going to conduct ourselves as a superpower,” Miller told CNN on Monday.

Legal experts warn that such disregard for international law risks destabilising the entire global system, including for the US itself. International law is the framework of rules and norms governing relations between states, built around multilateral treaties and UN conventions.