Trump’s Foreign Policy Madness Will Haunt Us for Generations

“Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose,” Lincoln continued. “If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, ‘I see no probability of the British invading us,’ but he will say to you, ‘Be silent; I see it, if you don’t.’”

Those words proved to be prophetic. Last week, President Donald Trump sent troops into Venezuela to capture Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, and bring him to the U.S. to stand trial on various charges. Much of the situation is unclear: Trump initially claimed that the U.S., in some unspecified way, would “take control” of Venezuela. Days later, there are no U.S. troops on the ground, and the Chavismo faction that had been ruling Venezuela, with the exception of Maduro, appears to be intact.

In the immediate aftermath of the raid, Trump showed little interest in the legal or constitutional implications of his actions. “They should say ‘great job,’” he told reporters after one mentioned criticism from congressional Democrats. “They shouldn’t say, ‘Oh gee, maybe it’s not constitutional.’ You know, the same old stuff that we’ve been hearing for years and years and years.”