The usual suspect have, in fact, gone from “No Kings” to complaining that Trump has somehow violated international law. This is true only to the extent that “international law” means “a wish-fulfillment tool for the Left.” Which is its chief use now.
But what Trump did is basically indistinguishable — except for being much swifter and cheaper — than what George H.W. Bush did with Manuel Noriega, the “President” of Panama (not recognized as such by the United States due to election fraud) just as Maduro was the “President” of Venezuela, but not recognized as such by the United States (and other countries) due to election fraud.
Brought to the United States and put on trial, Noriega and his lawyers made the same arguments that Maduro’s supporters on the left are making now: Violations of the UN Charter, illegal rendition, head-of-state immunity, etc. None of these convinced the courts and for reasons that are likely to obtain here. Of course one wild card may be the “Trump rule,” which is that anything Trump does is judicially suspect, basically because all the best people know Trump is no good. That’s stupid, but it would be wrong to entirely discount its power. Jack Goldsmith has more on the legal argument. You can read President Bush’s official statement on the Noriega seizure and the reasons therefor here, and the 1989 Office of Legal Counsel opinion on authority for extraterritorial arrests/seizures here.
But that’s a stale argument, and unlikely to prove important, particularly as the courts, including the Supreme Court, have kind of embarrassed themselves to date with regard to the conflict with Venezuela. Perhaps Trump Derangement will lead them to double down, but that would be a dangerous move.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member