President Donald Trump drew fresh outrage over remarks about what he believes are the limits, or lack thereof, on his international power.
In an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, Trump was asked whether there were any constraints on what he could do on the world stage, following the U.S. military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and amid renewed rhetoric from senior Trump administration officials about the United States potentially taking control of Greenland.
“Yeah, there is one thing,” Trump replied. “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.”
Trump briefly acknowledged the United States is expected to abide by the international rules-based order, before immediately adding a caveat that it “depends what your definition of international law is.”
Critics reacted sharply on social media.
First-term Trump Homeland Security official Miles Taylor, the author of the 2018 “anonymous” essay that made him the subject of a Justice Department investigation, said the comments revealed “the mind of a fascist.”
