Good morning. In a pre-dawn social media post, President Trump said he had canceled a “second Wave of Attacks” on Venezuela because the country was cooperating with the United States. He also said that “BIG OIL” would invest at least $100 billion in the country ahead of a meeting with oil executives at the White House today. The industry has been wary so far. We’ll get to that below. But first, let’s turn to what my colleagues who cover the White House heard in their unpredictable, nearly two-hour-long interview with the president.
A vision of powerPresident Trump views his power to command world affairs as vast — almost unchecked. He told four White House reporters who visited the Oval Office on Wednesday evening that he, not international law or treaties, would be the arbiter of any limits to his authority. Asked if there were any restraints on his global powers, he answered: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” “I don’t need international law,” he added. “I’m not looking to hurt people.” The reporters — Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers and David Sanger — asked whether his administration needed to abide by international law. “I do,” the president responded. But there was a caveat. “It depends what your definition of international law is,” he said. Trump’s assessment of his own freedom to use any instrument of military, economic or political power to cement American supremacy was the most blunt acknowledgment yet of his worldview. At its core is the concept that national strength, rather than laws, treaties and conventions, should be the deciding factor as powers collide.
Using that rationale, Trump can justify many actions that his predecessors would not have considered:
The reporters asked Trump why he needed to possess the territory. “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success,” he said. “I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do, whether you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document.” Onstage at the Trump show
The interview gave Trump a chance to show off his many sides. First and foremost, Katie reported, Trump sought to appear hale and hearty, a picture of health for a news organization that he has accused of sedition for reporting about his fitness and age. But he also showed himself a complainer (he gets no respect), a host (he summoned a valet bearing a tray of waters and Diet Cokes), a grudge-holder (Joe Biden’s name came up many times, Katie reported) and a father figure to his aides and staff. At one point he referred passingly to Vice President JD Vance, 41, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 54, as “kids.” Both men were wearing shoes he had given them as gifts, Katie reported. He showed himself as an ambitious builder as well, eager to renovate the White House into something spectacular, excited to show off his plans for the new White House ballroom and the marble flooring he had installed in a room just off the Rose Garden. Katie captured a telling exchange about that: Near the end of the interview, when asked about the possibility of elections in Venezuela, Mr. Trump hit pause on the question. A valet had just entered with a model of his White House ballroom project. “I’m a big fan” of democracy, Mr. Trump said. “Let me show you this before I talk about democracy.” And of course he projected the stature of a world leader. He sat behind the Resolute Desk with a file marked “top secret” before him and his vice president and secretary of state nearby while he took a call from Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia. They spoke for the better part of an hour as our reporters listened in. “Do you think Biden could do that?” he asked afterward. Other highlights from the interview
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