Photograph: Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty“I don’t need international law,” Donald Trump told the New York Times. Asked what constrained him then he replied: “It depends on how you define international law. International law functions here as consistency, predictability and certainty, all of which are likely to be withheld from a rogue US, since transactional politics requires reciprocity. Law can be weaponised against a rogue US, just as it did with globalisation’s supply chains over the last generation. Power as law can be confronted by law as power.

Source: The Irish Times January 18, 2026 09:02 UTC