Under the banner of America First, President Trump is attacking countries all over the world.
Why it matters: American interventionism is back, in Trumpian technicolor, as seen in the attacks in Caracas overnight and extradition-by-force of President Nicolás Maduro.
Breaking it down: In just under one year, Trump has:
- Conducted massive strikes on Iran's nuclear program and threatened to intervene further to defend protesters there;
- Bombed six additional countries, most recently Nigeria in the name of defending Christians;
- Appointed himself chair of a governing board for Gaza and made himself the personal guarantor in an array of other diplomatic initiatives;
- Sent an enormous armada to Venezuela to blow up drug boats and, it's now clear, to depose a sitting world leader.
Friction point: He's done most of that without seeking approval from Congress or trying to build any kind of international legitimacy.
The other side: The Trump administration argues that Maduro is a drug kingpin and not the legitimate president of Venezuela because he rigged elections to keep power.
- Thus, the argument goes, detaining him was legally sound and in America's interest, insofar as it curtails drug trafficking from Venezuela.
Reality check: Few in the region and around the world will see it that way.
- It's also unlikely the U.S. would simply stand by if another country deposed a sitting world leader under similar circumstances, particularly if that leader was ideologically aligned with Trump.
- But the new Trump Doctrine effectively states that, at least in the Western Hemisphere, American might makes right.
- It was Maduro's misfortunate to be sitting within Trump's self-declared sphere of influence.
What to watch: How Beijing and Moscow react — rhetorically for now, but also within their own spheres in the longer term.
