Declaring “I don't need for international law,” he has openly challenged not only specific treaties and institutions, but the very idea of a rules-based global order. Trump suggested that acquiring Greenland could justify abandoning NATO, and further claimed that he would not be constrained by international law, but only his own morality. Now, international law itself is being dismissed as optional, an inconvenience rather than a foundation of legitimacy. A world in which international law is optional and alliances are transactional is one in which self-help replaces collective security. America does not grow stronger by rejecting international law or walking away from institutions it once led.

Source: International New York Times January 11, 2026 05:44 UTC