There is a degree of legal precedent for this. When the U.S. invaded Panama in 1989, William Barr – then head of the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel and eventually Mr. Trump's attorney general – wrote a controversial memo claiming that the FBI could legally arrest the country's dictator, Gen. Manuel Noriega. The memo concluded that the president has "inherent constitutional authority" to order the FBI to arrest individuals for violations of U.S. law, "even if those ... arrests are not consistent with international law."

The president can ignore the U.N. charter "and other unexecuted treaties or treaty provisions that have not become part of the domestic law of the United States," the memo claimed.

Legal memos are advisory and have no precedential force in the courts. No Trump administration official appears to have publicly cited the memo, which legal pundits are widely discussing as a legal justification that the administration may cite.

There is also historical precedent for U.S. presidents to order military strikes without congressional approval. In 2011, President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes in Libya, and in 1999, President Bill Clinton coordinated an air campaign in Serbia with other NATO countries.

The Justice Department unsealed a 2020 indictment and a superseding indictment listing Nicolas Maduro and his wife among several defendants, including his son, charging them with drug smuggling and gun possession crimes.

Quote from: Dove on January 09, 2026, 11:37:06 AMThe world doesn't hate us, Biggie. There are more people rooting for Trump than the media will ever show.

 People in the UK warning us. Supporting Trump. Even Chinese people.

 A LOT globally is riding on what decisions the US makes.

I believe that too.

Quote from: Herman on January 08, 2026, 09:55:19 PM

They cannot be trusted.

Quote from: Biggie Smiles on January 07, 2026, 01:59:51 PMI stand 100% behind the tenets of an imperialist empire at this point

Trump could come flat out and say we are invading Venezuela to take their oil and I would be 100% ok with that

for far too long we have been on the receiving end fraud and abuse having to mask our self interests under some guise of "nation building" or whatever sounds politically correct

fuck that... the rest of the world hates us no matter so might as well be honest and say "yeah, we took their fucking oil and what the fuck you gonna do about it"

 The world doesn't hate us, Biggie. There are more people rooting for Trump than the media will ever show.

 People in the UK warning us. Supporting Trump. Even Chinese people.

 A LOT globally is riding on what decisions the US makes.

Quote from: Dove on January 08, 2026, 10:09:43 AMIsnt that why Trump wants Greenland? Cut them off from that and hit Chinas economy?

Precisely. The US has walked back the Monroe doctrine since 1990 coinciding with the fall of the USSR. Trump is reinforcing it because of the rise of China's influence in our hemisphere.

Polymarket has decided it is not willing to provide payouts to those who said (with their wallets) that the capture of Maduro was indeed an invasion.

"This market refers to U.S. military operations intended to establish control," it reads. "President Trump's statement that they will 'run' Venezuela while referencing ongoing talks with the Venezuelan government does not alone qualify the snatch-and-extract mission to capture Maduro as an invasion."

It further added, "This market will resolve to 'Yes' if the United States commences a military offensive intended to establish control over any portion of Venezuela between November 3, 2025, and January 31, 2026, 11:59 PM ET. Otherwise, this market will resolve to 'No'."

Quote from: Shen Li on January 07, 2026, 10:53:09 PMThey are scrambling now to find more supplies. They really want a couple new pipelines from Western Canada to the Pacific

I wonder if the Trump administration acted to remove Maduro because they had intel Beijing was going to act to unify Taiwan with the Mainland.

No doubt China was part of the reason they arrested Maduro.

Quote from: Biggie Smiles on January 07, 2026, 01:59:51 PMI stand 100% behind the tenets of an imperialist empire at this point

Trump could come flat out and say we are invading Venezuela to take their oil and I would be 100% ok with that

for far too long we have been on the receiving end fraud and abuse having to mask our self interests under some guise of "nation building" or whatever sounds politically correct

fuck that... the rest of the world hates us no matter so might as well be honest and say "yeah, we took their fucking oil and what the fuck you gonna do about it"

Trump's empire is a civilzational. He is leading a last charge of Western values against China and the Islam.

Quote from: DKG on January 08, 2026, 07:45:49 AMIt would appear that China placed a lot of their energy supply needs in the Venezuela basket. But, they know that Maduro's regime held on by a thread. At some point he would have been toppled from within.

China has a plan B for energy. I am certain of that.

 Isnt that why Trump wants Greenland? Cut them off from that and hit Chinas economy?

Quote from: DKG on January 08, 2026, 07:45:49 AMIt would appear that China placed a lot of their energy supply needs in the Venezuela basket. But, they know that Maduro's regime held on by a thread. At some point he would have been toppled from within.

China has a plan B for energy. I am certain of that.

Yeah, plan B is to get on their knees and beg us for oil.

Quote from: Shen Li on January 07, 2026, 10:53:09 PMThey are scrambling now to find more supplies. They really want a couple new pipelines from Western Canada to the Pacific

I wonder if the Trump administration acted to remove Maduro because they had intel Beijing was going to act to unify Taiwan with the Mainland.

It would appear that China placed a lot of their energy supply needs in the Venezuela basket. But, they know that Maduro's regime held on by a thread. At some point he would have been toppled from within.

China has a plan B for energy. I am certain of that.

Quote from: . on January 08, 2026, 04:14:59 AMAustralia's prime mincer will no doubt be speed dialing Xi Xing Ping Pong with offers of crude fellatio and reach arounds. Australian oligarchs never got over the US walking on the Trans Pacific Partnership in 2016; now that the US is talking about denying entry to foreign dignitaries that are attempting to censor US free expression, Clownface Albanese needs a bumchum to ease his owwie.

I read Australia has several LNG export facilities. Do they have large reserves of crude oil too?