PBS’s Geoff Bennett: Trump Is Making It Clear He Won’t Be Constrained By The Law As He Reimagines The Western Hemisphere
“PBS NewsHour” host Geoff Bennett on Friday asked “New York Times” columnist David Brooks: “Let’s shift our focus to foreign policy because President Trump is making clear that he won’t be constrained by the law as he teases a takeover or a reimagining of the Western Hemisphere. Here’s what he told your paper, The New York Times, when asked if there are any limits on his global powers. Mr. Trump said: “Yes, 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. I’m not looking to hurt people.” Brooks responded:
DAVID BROOKS: Relying on Donald Trump’s morality, we’re doomed. Sometimes, I think he’s just trying to keep the reality show going, and every week has to show some sign of force. But I tried to put my mind in, like, what — if I want to make the best case for this Venezuela operation, obviously, Maduro was one of the worst people in the world. The best case, I think, is that Trump happens to be in an office when a lot of really terrible regimes are crumbling, and he is a destructive force, and he is having some effect on causing terrible regimes to crumble. And that’s true in Iran. The story is amazing what we’re seeing in Iran. It’s true with Hamas. It’s true with Hezbollah. It’s true in Venezuela, Cuba. There are a lot of terrible regimes that are in a very weak position. And if he can push them off the edge, maybe that will be good for the world. The problem with this approach is what Stephen Miller now famously said to Jake Tapper on Monday, which is, we don’t believe in international law. We believe in power. We believe in force. Strong wins. Might makes right. Deal with it. The problem with that, it’s like the ICE thing, frankly. When there’s restraint, when there’s rules, when there’s order, it does cause people to be less violent. Between 1990 and 2014, in the world, there were less than an average of 15,000 war deaths per year, 15,000. Since 2014, there have been over 100,000 war deaths per year around the world. That is what you get when you erode the postwar international order. You allow savagery to reign. And what he’s doing with this Stephen Miller might makes right, that’s what you get.
