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   XPost: alt.politics.trump   
   From: ivancanorcannot99@trustemail.org   
      
   Trump Lays Out a Vision of Power Restrained Only by 'My Own Morality'   
   On topic after topic, President Trump made clear that he would be the   
   arbiter of any limits to his authorities, not international law or   
   treaties.   
   Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times   
   Listen to this article · 8:58 min Learn more   
   David E. SangerTyler PagerKatie RogersZolan Kanno-Youngs   
   By David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers and Zolan Kanno-Youngs   
   The reporters are White House correspondents for The Times. They   
   interviewed President Trump in the Oval Office.   
      
   Jan. 8, 2026Updated 6:47 p. m. ET   
      
   Leer en espan~ol   
   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. "   
   When pressed further about whether his administration needed to abide by   
   international law, Mr. Trump said, "I do. " But he made clear he would be   
   the arbiter when such constraints applied to the United States.   
   "It depends what your definition of international law is, " he said.   
   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.   
   He did acknowledge some constraints at home, even as he has pursued a   
   maximalist strategy of punishing institutions he dislikes, exacting   
   retribution against political opponents and deploying the National Guard to   
   cities over the objections of state and local officials.   
   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.   
   "Well, we are in danger, " Mr. Petro said in an interview with The Times   
   just before the call. "Because the threat is real. It was made by Trump. "   
   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.   
   In his conversation with The Times, Mr. Trump sounded more emboldened than   
   ever. He cited the success of his strike on Iran's nuclear program — he   
   keeps a model of the B-2 bombers used in the mission on his desk; the speed   
   with which he decapitated the Venezuelan government last weekend; and his   
   designs on Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark, a NATO ally.   
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   When asked what was his higher priority, obtaining Greenland or preserving   
   NATO, Mr. Trump declined to answer directly, but acknowledged "it may be a   
   choice. " He made clear that the trans-Atlantic alliance was essentially   
   useless without the United States at its core.   
   Even as he characterized the norms of the post-World War II order as   
   unnecessary burdens on a superpower, Mr. Trump was dismissive of the idea   
   that the leader of China, Xi Jinping, or President Vladimir V. Putin of   
   Russia could use similar logic to the detriment of the United States. On   
   topic after topic, he made clear that in his mind, U. S. power is the   
   determining factor — and that previous presidents have been too cautious to   
   make use of it for political supremacy or national profit.   
   The president's insistence that Greenland must become part of the United   
   States was a prime example of his worldview. It was not enough to exercise   
   the U. S. right, under a 1951 treaty, to reopen long-closed military bases   
   on the huge landmass, which is a strategically important crossroads for U.   
   S. , European, Chinese and Russian naval operations.   
   ImageColorful homes in front of a rocky landscape leading to the ocean in   
   Greenland.   
   The president's insistence that Greenland must become part of the United   
   States was a prime example of his worldview. Credit... Esther Horvath for   
   The New York Times   
   "Ownership is very important, " Mr. Trump said as he discussed, with a real   
   estate mogul's eye, the landmass of Greenland — three times the size of   
   Texas but with a population of less than 60,000. He seemed to dismiss the   
   value of having Greenland under the control of a close NATO ally.   
   When asked why he needed to possess the territory, he said: "Because that's   
   what I feel is psychologically needed for success. I think that ownership   
   gives you a thing that you can't do, whether you're talking about a lease   
   or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can't get   
   from just signing a document. "   
   The conversation made clear that in Mr. Trump's view, sovereignty and   
   national borders are less important than the singular role the United   
   States plays as the protector of the West.   
   Video   
   1:12   
   President Trump brushed aside international law and repeated his goal for   
   the U. S. to own Greenland. CreditCredit... Doug Mills/The New York Times   
   He argued that only he — and not two predecessors on whom he heaped scorn,   
   Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Barack Obama — had proved capable of persuading   
   NATO nations to spend 5 percent of the gross domestic product on defense.   
   (About 1.5 percent of that is actually for domestic infrastructure — from   
   power grids to cybersecurity — that can support defense. The target does   
   not kick in until 2035, six years after Mr. Trump leaves office. )   
   "I want them to shape up, " he said. "I think we'll always get along with   
   Europe, but I want them to shape up. I'm the one that got them to spend   
   more on the, you know, more G. D. P. on NATO. But if you look at NATO,   
   Russia I can tell you is not at all concerned with any other country but   
   us. "   
      
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