Donald Trump’s license to kill

We must reject White House lawbreaking in Iran, on the high seas, and in U.S. cities

What is the ultimate authority of a king?

It’s to decide whether people live or die, based on his personal preference, and allowing no challenge to his whims.

That’s the power that Donald Trump holds right now.

The Trump regime’s war against Iran is illegal under U.S. law. Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution gives Congress – not the president – the power to declare war. The War Powers Act allows the president to send the military into “hostilities” only after Congress authorizes it or there’s “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”

Neither happened here.

The United Nations Charter bans offensive warfare but allows for self-defense. The Trump regime pretended it acted defensively when it joined Israel in killing Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and scores of schoolgirls in attacks that also led to at least four American deaths. No matter what Trump says, this was a war of choice, illegal under the UN charter. British Defense Secretary John Healey said it was up to “the U.S. to set out the legal basis of the action that it took.”

But the Trump regime only occasionally feels the need to explain itself. Laws have become quaint relics. Citizens sue over the law, judges rule on the law, and fascists ignore the law. The other two branches of government have largely surrendered – the GOP-run Congress by not asserting its authority and the Supreme Court by giving the president criminal immunity for “official acts.”

Trump has long thought himself to be above all laws, even on matters of life and death. He made that clear a decade ago when he said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” In 2020, he declared, “When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total.”

Obviously, he hasn’t reconsidered that view.

Since returning to office last year, Trump has trained the American people to accept the idea that he can kill people with no legal process and no consequences. About 150 people on boats in the Pacific and Caribbean are dead because Trump claimed without evidence that they were drug traffickers. He felt like killing them, so he did. Two of the victims survived a first strike that wrecked their boat, but were killed in a second strike. That was either a war crime or murder. Trump and his henchmen got away with it.

Also dead as a result of Trump’s decrees are Renee Good and Alex Pretti, executed on the streets of Minneapolis. Trump sent masked agents into the city and encouraged their violence. There’s almost no chance that anyone will be charged with Good’s death, and justice in Pretti’s death appears unlikely too.

It’s up to pro-democracy advocates and the news media not to accept a system based on politicians’ abuses of power instead of the law that was written, debated, and approved over our nation’s 250 years.

Many Democrats and a few Republicans in Congress are pushing for a vote on the assault against Iran, belatedly. Expect lies and other maneuvers by Trump’s congressional allies who’d prefer not to vote at all because they hate accountability. They want to keep their seats and let Trump make all the decisions.

The news media also have a huge part to play, if only they will. The rule of law needs to be explained to the public. People don’t have the Constitution memorized. Journalists need to explain that the Trump regime is repeatedly violating the law. When the media cynically accept lawbreaking as the new normal, they help normalize it.

If neither politicians nor the media will help rein in the president, the American people will have to. There’s an opportunity to display “people power” later this month: the “No Kings” rallies on Saturday, March 28. Invite your family and friends. It’s important. Because defending our democracy is a life-and-death matter.

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This week’s media atrocity

The New York Times published a story Wednesday about how Trump is undermining trust in our elections and pushing dishonest schemes to rig the midterms. Yet in the middle of the story, NYT wrote: “Democrats are sounding alarms — and sometimes sounding downright alarmist — as they war-game for extreme subversion scenarios.”

By describing legitimate concerns as “downright alarmist,” they undercut their own story and pleased the people plotting to steal the midterms.

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Join COURIER and 3.14 Action on March 12 for MAHA & the Midterms: How Trump and RFK Jr.’s Agenda Costs Americans.

This live conversation will examine how political choices are reshaping healthcare access ahead of the midterms. We’ll break down how Trump, RFK Jr., and the broader MAHA agenda are impacting public health, who benefits, and what’s at stake for families across the country.

Featured Speakers include:

• Hank Green, Author + Creator

• Dr. Mary Trump, Psychologist + Author

• U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood, Member of Congress + Registered Nurse

• Shaughnessy Naughton, 314 Action President

• Dr. Vin Gupta, Physician + Medical Analyst

Stay tuned for more speaker announcements.

Don’t miss this conversation. RSVP today!