Trump hasn’t get caught over Venezuela - he put himself on the record though, and the law surely can’t ignore him forever? Right, so Donald Trump has managed to do what even seasoned warmongers usually avoid: he has walked himself straight into an array of legal messes, not just through what he has done, but also by openly bragging about it. He didn’t just authorise force, he narrated it. He didn’t just claim control over another country, he announced it. He didn’t just detain a foreign head of state, he posted the picture. In legal terms, that is self-harm on steroids. Trump has stacked admissions on top of jurisdiction, on top of precedent, and pinned his own name to every layer, because he took it all upon himself. International law only struggles when powerful actors hide behind procedure. Trump didn’t bother. He stepped out from behind it an ...