Yesterday Trump gave an unusual two-hour interview to reporters from The New York Times.
One reporter asked Trump whether he felt constrained by international law or by Congress, and he answered that he did not.
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.”
I immediately thought of Marlon Brando in The Godfather.
Nobody constrains the godfather. Only his own morality. And you know what that means.
In few words, Trump boldly expressed The Trump Doctrine. He will take action without deference to Congress, the Constitution, or the United Nations. Nothing will hold him back except his “own morality,” says a man who is famous for lying, cheating, and ignoring the law. A man who dodged the draft, cheated on all three of his wives, refused to release his tax returns, went bankrupt multiple times (while playing the role of a business genius), a man whose multiple businesses have folded (Trump steaks, Trump wines, Trump airlines, Trump University, Trump vodka, among other failed ventures).
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Morality. That’s funny coming from one of the most immoral people alive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You beat me to it. I was going to ask a two word question:
What morality?
LikeLike
The Toxic T doesn’t have one moral cell in his body, and the human body has about 40 billion cells.
LikeLike
Error alert. I wrote 40 billion. Not even close. It should have been “trillion”
LikeLike
Trump has always made it very obvious that nothing will constrain him — but pundits and politicians have brushed aside what Trump was telling them, viewing it as preposterous musing.
Trump’s “musing” in his seemingly rambling yet cleverly calculated speeches were, in actual fact, not musings: He was both telling everyone what he was ACTUALLY GOING TO DO and at the same time DARING EVERYONE TO TRY TO STOP HIM.
NO ONE IS GOING TO STOP HIM, not the compliant Congress, not the complicit Supreme Court, not the hapless, disorganized Democrats whose “progressive” policies created the MAGA backlash, regressing our nation from a functioning republic to fascistic rule by a demagogue.
THERE WON’T BE ANY MIDTERM ELECTIONS to “turn things around” — Trump plainly told everyone that with his “musing” at the January 6 House Republican Retreat.
POLITICIANS AND PUNDITS again dismissed Trump’s statement at the Retreat as mere musing — failing to recognize again, as in every similar incident in the past — that Trump was TELLING THEM EXACTLY WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO.
AND HERE IS HOW TRUMP WILL STOP THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS: All along, the plan for creating a greatly expanded ICE army was to get around constitutional constraints on using military forces to subdue Blue States and cities. The role of ICE is to use increasingly brutal force in order to trigger massive opposition in the streets which Trump will use as reason to invoke the Insurrection Act, declare Martial Law, and suspend elections.
SO: ALWAYS TAKE TRUMP’S “MUSINGS” VERY SERIOUSLY, no matter how seemingly far-fetched, because Trump is telling everyone EXACTLY WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO and is challenging anyone to try to stop him.
Neither Congress, nor the Supreme Court, nor Democratic politicians are going to stop him.
In 2026, the 250th anniversary year that the American Republic was founded, it ends.
(Copy and share this.)
LikeLike
Some of the policies that only a few people warned about years ago are now showing their ugly consequences. People warned about the Orwellian risks of creating the Department of Homeland Security, and now we see ICE operating like an occupying force in blue cities. People also warned about giving presidents broad authority to use the military without meaningful congressional oversight, and now we’re living in fear, paying the price for years of inaction by both parties.
This is why it’s not enough for the Senate to try to limit Trump’s war powers only in Venezuela. If Congress is serious about its constitutional role, it needs to reassert authority across the board. No president — Trump or anyone else — should be able to “do whatever they want” on the world stage without congressional approval. Congress needs to take back its war powers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, here we have a “president” who everyone with eyes & ears & half a brain knows is a narcissistic, pathological liar, threatens and carries out revenge on public officials who go against him, cheats on his 3 wives, calls people juvenile names or makes fun of them in inappropriate ways, incites his base followers to dehumanize opponents, accepts favors/gifts/”bribes” which are either inappropriate or unconstitutional, says overtly misogynistic & racist things, (fill in your own). With all of that public knowledge on the record, we are expected to accept this maniac to leave leading our country up to “my own morality. My own mind”. If Republicans aren’t jarred by this and don’t stand up to him, we are even more doomed than I could ever have imagined.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am afraid there is no bridge too far for members of the MAGA cult.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The U.S. threw out International Law years ago (not that they ever really acknowledged it) in favor of “The Rules Based International Order”, which just means that the U.S. can do whatever they want. If one country can rule the world, why not one man within that country? Might makes right, after all, no?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I could not find the 2 hour interview online, just a brief summary. Did they ask him to describe his morality, to say what his moral code is and what it’s based on, and to provide examples? I have not seen evidence of him having any kind of moral compass, and I think he believes that his thinking ME, ME, ME all the time is just fine. That’s how 2 year olds think and clearly not moral for an adult, especially a 79 year old two time president who assumes he has unlimited powers.
OMG, we and our world are in for a very rough ride from here on out with an impulsive toddler running wild at the helm…
LikeLiked by 1 person
If we could put it to a vote, I wonder how many of us would prefer this today: “King Restores British Rule over U.S.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/king-to-restore-british-rule-over?r=5hxpk
LikeLiked by 1 person
His pants are on fire again! That’s because he told the NY Times, “I’m not looking to hurt people,” when it’s apparent that, at a minimum, he wants to hurt anyone who doesn’t agree with him (especially Democrats). He said that in regard to not needing to adhere to international laws, but he said it during the same week that his Administration cut off funding for programs that support child care for low income families –in five Democratic-led states. (It was supposedly done due to fraud, but I’ve read that only allegedly occurred in ONE of those states, MN). See: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/07/trump-childcare-family-assistance-suspension
LikeLike
As indicated above, when, “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.”
But morality does not just come from the mind. It also very much involves the heart –and that guy has repeatedly demonstrated his heartlessness.
LikeLike
Good news Friday evening: “Trump suffers setback in bid to cut off $10 billion in child care and social services” to five blue states!
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-child-care-2674868105/
LikeLike
Let’s not forget about how his “charity” was shut down as well, due to fraud. I mean, who does that? Not someone who believes in the importance of ethics! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_J._Trump_Foundation
LikeLike
Doesn’t get any more moronic, ironic and/or oxymoronic than the thought of the OFCFPP* and moral in the same thought. Now immoral and the tRump goes together like peas and carrots.
*OFCFPP = ORANGE FACED CONVICTED FELON PEDOPREZ.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh great. The future of our country & the world is dependent on the “morality in his own mind”. If that’s not the most Orwellian, Twilight Zone remark, I don’t know what is. He is the most immoral creature of the human race since Hitler or Pol Pot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He doesn’t know what morality is.
He has spent a lifetime demonstrating amorality.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The pure expression of the Leader Principle – now Trump is working Hitler’s side of the street!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And his followers are ignorant enough to fall for him and his claims that taking over Greenland would be for our national security, to protect us from Russia, when Alaska is much MUCH closer to Russia –and it’s also where Trump and Putin meet to have their playdates secretly in the Beast (the president’s secure car), so no one can hear what they discuss!
LikeLike
And, if POTUS and Putin were really enemies who feared for their lives and their countries (instead of best buds as they appear to be), then wouldn’t Alaska be THE ideal place for either of them to pull off a Maduro style kidnapping of the leader they supposedly fear so much –minus the wife probably, but why would a wife be needed anyways?
LikeLike