International Law? REALLY?! You’re Going With That?!

It’s cute, really. 

I keep reading people complaining about Donald Trump’s “kidnapping” of Nicholas Maduro, claiming that it sets a terrible precedent that could come back to bite us, or that it is a clear violation of international law that could inspire China or Russia to take aggressive actions they might otherwise refrain from because of international norms or something. 

.@antonioguterres deeply alarmed by escalation in Venezuela, culminating with US military action today.

He’s concerned that international law hasn’t been respected.

He calls on all actors in Venezuela to engage in inclusive dialogue, in respect of human rights & rule of law.

— United Nations (@UN) January 3, 2026

Get real. 

If Xi Jinping invaded Taiwan right now, and toppled the president there, on what grounds would the United States object? Or have any credibility to say anything?

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 3, 2026

No, really. Get real. Does anybody think that Vladimir Putin just realized that he might ignore international “norms” or international “law” because Donald Trump sent in the troops to capture Nicholas Maduro? Or perhaps Xi Jinping was being held back from challenging Taiwan’s sovereignty until he witnessed this horrific violation of international law?

Starmer must convene the UN security council to hold Trump to account. pic.twitter.com/saOGwKKFmi

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) January 3, 2026

Maybe Iran’s ayatollahs might get adventurous? 

The blatant violator.#US #Venezuela #Maduro #InternationalLaw #Peace #Imperialism pic.twitter.com/2iIk3YaM02

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 4, 2026

Uh, yeah. Sure. All our adversaries have been holding back because they don’t want to violate international law or even offend bureaucrats in Brussels. I’m sure of it. 

Xi/Putin aren’t afraid of a UN Resolution, or the ICJ, or a stern Presidential address. They’re afraid that if they invade Europe or Taiwan, the US will punch back. That’s it. That’s all it ever has been, all it is, and all it ever will be, and that hasn’t changed.

— Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) January 4, 2026

Yep. Ukrainians are now shaking in their boots after Operation Absolute Resolve. Until Trump went into Venezuela, Putin was being held back from invading Ukraine or trying to assassinate Zelensky, right?

No fan of Maduro, nor of the repressive leftist movement he represents. But seizing him is a rogue action. If Russia & China now go around kidnapping leaders of nations they find inconvenient, the United States will have no principled basis for objection https://t.co/HWSj2PwVpR

— Jonathan Kay (@jonkay) January 3, 2026

Next thing you know, Hamas and Hezbollah will feel empowered to do bad things, all because Donald Trump captured Maduro. 

“The United States has now given Russia, China, and anyone else who wants to give it a try a road map for invading countries that displease them,” argues @RadioFreeTom: https://t.co/SlJdd5e0OT

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 3, 2026

International law isn’t really a thing. We pretend that it is, and sometimes the pretense makes sense to maintain. When civilized countries want to establish rules among themselves to keep a semblance of order, we make treaties and create rules and bureaucracies whose decisions we agree to respect, but law is something else. 

All the bleating about “international law” shows just how completely deluded some of our elites have become.

International law was a pleasant fiction that lasted for a few decades. It was never real and now the world has reverted to its default setting: Great Power politics.…

— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) January 4, 2026

Law requires enforcement mechanisms—force. And there is no overarching international sovereign force out there. 

But of course, the people who bleat about international law also believe that “gun-free zones” prevent murder. 

This genre of lefty concern-trolling is so funny.

After years of hand-wringing about Russia’s lack of respect for international law, they now have to seamlessly pivot to pretending that Trump’s alleged violation of international law is going to somehow embolden Russia. https://t.co/xBolLvF7Js

— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) January 4, 2026

If they actually believe any of what they say. Some do, some don’t. After all, plenty of the people complaining about Trump’s “kidnapping” of Maduro were just fine with Hamas raping and murdering Israelis. That was decolonizing Gaza or something. 

Or who knows, Putin might even invade Ukraine. https://t.co/YgN7JOuY3o

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 4, 2026

Their real complaint is that their friends are losing. 

Democrats have settled on the position that they think Maduro was a terrible and illegitimate dictator who was severely undermining American interests and promoting the drug trade, but it’s completely unacceptable for anyone to do anything about it.

— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 4, 2026

If people want to argue that the juice is not worth the squeeze when doing something like this, but spare me the blathering about “international law.” We live a world where SOMALIA is now the president of the United Nations Security Council. 

El Artículo 2, párrafo 4 de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas dice textualmente:

“Los Miembros de la Organización, en sus relaciones internacionales, se abstendrán de recurrir a la amenaza o al uso de la fuerza contra la integridad territorial o la independencia política de…

— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) January 3, 2026

You can’t even make it up. A Somali diplomat is going to chastise the United States of America and lecture us about international law. 

Better yet, that guy runs a health care company in Ohio. Simultaneously running the UN Security Council and committing health care fraud in the US. 

Saying “International law no longer exists as a serious thing” is like saying “Thor no longer exists as a real God.”

— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) January 4, 2026

It’s idiocracy, and liberals want me to take that seriously? Want anybody to not laugh in their faces?

The only serious questions anybody should be asking are whether the world will be made a better or worse place by taking Nicholas Maduro off the board, and in particular, the United States of America. 

If the answer to either or both of those questions is “Yes,” then enough has been said.