Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Celerity

(53,731 posts)
Mon Jan 12, 2026, 03:13 PM 20 hrs ago

The Theory That Gives Trump a Blank Check for Aggression


The true meaning of “flexible realism” — abroad and at home.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/magazine/trump-venezuela-foreign-policy-realism-greenland.html

https://archive.ph/lgn3h



In an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN on Monday, President Trump’s aide Stephen Miller blithely articulated the outlook that has taken hold of the White House. “We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” Miller said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

His words seemed to deliberately echo Trump’s statement on Saturday that the capture and extradition of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores, was the product of “the iron laws that have always determined global power.” Not international laws, which prohibit the use of force to threaten the independence and territorial integrity of another sovereign state. Trump, for his part, said in a recent interview with The Times, “I don’t need international law.”

“America will never allow foreign powers to rob our people or drive us back into and out of our own hemisphere,” Trump said on Saturday. To that end, the administration is reviving the Monroe Doctrine from 1823 in order to reassert American dominance in its neighborhood. “Under our new National Security Strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” the president said.

That National Security Strategy, released in early December, gave a name to one of the organizing principles supposedly governing the administration’s foreign policy: “flexible realism.” The document stated that the United States would pursue “peace through strength,” have a “predisposition to non-interventionism” and safeguard the “sovereign rights of nations,” first and foremost those of the United States. It would reassert American dominance over the Western Hemisphere.

snip
4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The Theory That Gives Trump a Blank Check for Aggression (Original Post) Celerity 20 hrs ago OP
That polyp-headed little dumbfuck asshole leftstreet 20 hrs ago #1
Trump's Iron Throne... sop 20 hrs ago #2
Funny thing is the republicans in congress have Tadpole Raisin 20 hrs ago #3
... Solly Mack 19 hrs ago #4

leftstreet

(38,886 posts)
1. That polyp-headed little dumbfuck asshole
Mon Jan 12, 2026, 03:18 PM
20 hrs ago

No, we live in a world that is governed by MONEY. Power is MONEY

Can he show us on his doll how often China is militarily invading countries to become the dominating MONEY POWER force they are?

Why couldn't Miller's mom have pushed him through the bottom of the cage. A rabbit mom would have

Tadpole Raisin

(1,898 posts)
3. Funny thing is the republicans in congress have
Mon Jan 12, 2026, 03:25 PM
20 hrs ago

incredible power. All they have to do is have the congressional leaders (assuming they really don’t like what he is doing to their positions of power) go into the WH and tell him that if he does or says 1 more thing to damage them he will hear one of them offhandedly mention impeachment in a throwaway statement. That will be his only warning.

If after that he makes 1 call to yell at them or they or their families are threatened in any way then they will open impeachment hearings and he WILL be removed from office. Say it in a ‘you better not fuck with us’ tone of strength and then leave the Oval Office.

He would back down. But they are wimps and if he is good at anything it is recognizing weakness and attacking.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»The Theory That Gives Tru...