Trump says he doesn’t need international law amid aggressive US policies

United States President Donald Trump has dismissed planetary law, saying lone his “own morality” tin curb the assertive policies helium is pursuing crossed the satellite aft the abduction of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.

“I don’t request planetary law. I’m not looking to wounded people,” Trump told The New York Times connected Thursday.

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Asked whether helium needs to abide by planetary law, Trump said helium does, but it “depends what your explanation of planetary instrumentality is”.

Trump has shown a willingness to usage the brute unit of the US subject to execute his overseas argumentation goals.

On Saturday, the US launched an early-morning onslaught connected Venezuela, with explosions reported crossed the superior Caracas and astatine Venezuelan subject bases.

US troops yet abducted Venezuelan President Maduro from Caracas successful what critics accidental was a wide usurpation of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits “the menace oregon usage of unit against the territorial integrity oregon governmental independency of immoderate state”.

The onslaught connected Venezuela appears to person supercharged the belligerence of the US president, who received the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize Award past month.

In the contiguous aftermath of the attack, Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela and exploit the country’s immense lipid reserves, though his medication has said it would cooperate with interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Still, the Trump medication said it would “dictate” policy to the interim authorities and repeatedly threatened a “second wave” of subject actions if US demands were disobeyed.

“If she doesn’t bash what’s right, she is going to wage a precise large price, astir apt bigger than Maduro,” Trump said of Rodriguez successful a Sunday interrogation with The Atlantic.

Earlier this week, Trump besides suggested that the US whitethorn transportation retired a onslaught against Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro, and helium has escalated his run to get the Danish territory of Greenland.

In June, Trump joined Israel’s unprovoked war against Iran, ordering the bombing of the country’s 3 main atomic sites.

Trump adjutant Stephen Miller has criticised the post-World War II planetary order, saying that, from present forward, the US would “unapologetically” usage its subject unit to unafraid its interests successful the Western Hemisphere.

“We’re a superpower, and nether President Trump, we are going to behaviour ourselves arsenic a superpower,” Miller told CNN connected Monday.

But experts pass that disregard for planetary instrumentality could person catastrophic consequences for the full planetary community, including the US.

International instrumentality is the acceptable of rules and norms that govern ties betwixt states. It includes UN conventions and multilateral treaties.

Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN peculiar rapporteur connected the independency of judges and lawyers, told Al Jazeera earlier this week that US statements dismissing planetary instrumentality are “extremely dangerous”.

Satterthwaite said she is acrophobic the satellite whitethorn beryllium returning to an “age of imperialism”, stressing that degrading planetary laws whitethorn embolden Washington’s adversaries to motorboat their ain acts of aggression.

“International instrumentality cannot halt states from doing unspeakable things if they’re committed to doing them,” Satterthwaite told Al Jazeera.

“And I deliberation that the satellite is alert of each of the atrocities that person happened successful Gaza recently, and contempt efforts by galore states and surely by the UN to halt those atrocities, they continued. But I deliberation we’re worse disconnected if we don’t importune connected the planetary instrumentality that does exist. We’ll simply beryllium going down a overmuch worse benignant of slippery slope.”

Yusra Suedi, an adjunct prof of planetary instrumentality astatine the University of Manchester, warned against the content that “might is right” and the inclination towards disregarding planetary law.

“It signals thing precise dangerous, successful that it gives support to different states to fundamentally travel suit – states specified arsenic China, who mightiness beryllium eyeing Taiwan, oregon Russia with respect to Ukraine,” Suedi told Al Jazeera.

Ian Hurd, a prof of governmental subject astatine Northwestern University, said past illustrates the perils of US policies successful Latin America.

The portion has witnessed much than a period of US invasions and US-supported subject coups, starring to instability, repression and quality rights abuses.

“There are innumerable examples historically of this, from Panama to Haiti to Nicaragua to Chile successful the ’70s and connected and on,” Hurd told Al Jazeera.

He added that Trump’s policies successful Venezuela are “in line” with however the US has antecedently attempted to determine however different parts of the Americas are governed.

“You tin spot that successful each 1 of those cases, the US came to regret its prime to intervene. These ne'er enactment well.”