this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2026
442 points (98.9% liked)

News

34291 readers
3042 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Donald Trump has said that he does not “need international law” and that his power is limited only by his “own morality”.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Trump said the only constraint to his power as president of the US is “my own morality, my own mind”.

"It’s the only thing that can stop me,” Trump said, adding: “I’m not looking to hurt people.” He went on to concede “I do” in regards to whether his administration needed to adhere to international law, but said: “It depends on what your definition of international law is.”

Trump, who spoke to the newspaper as his administration looks into “a range of options” in attempts of gaining control of Greenland, also emphasized the importance of ownership.

“Ownership is very important,” Trump said, adding: “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success. I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do with, you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document.”

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 93 points 1 week ago (1 children)

“My own morality” says the child raping baby killer that Epstein called the worst person he’s ever met

[–] beejboytyson@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Imagine the devil calling you evil

And it not being a compliment

Well... that's not reassuring.

[–] capt_wolf@lemmy.world 71 points 1 week ago

I'll take "Things a dictator says" for 800, Alex.

[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 37 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Considering he has no morality, I guess that means "unbridled powahhhhh!!!"

[–] aarch0x40@piefed.social 31 points 1 week ago
[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 24 points 1 week ago

Back in the real world, Trump has very little morality to constrain himself, but other social factors surprisingly do still constrain him, even if he’d never admit it.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I’m not looking to hurt people

Yeah, that's a lie. You do and you're loving it. You can't be a mass murderer and say that you don't want to hurt people

Most gangsters and bullies talk like that.

[–] GuyFawkesV@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I mean based on what I’m seeing daily he’s not wrong.

Unfortunately this is the most right he has been

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What's crazy isn't the headline, it's his rationale. "Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success." You are going to begin a conflict with allies (every day less so, but still) because of Trump's personal feelings and psychological needs. Only a dictator and those that enable dictators would be ok with this.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The fact that he thinks this way isn't the truly bad part - it's that nobody in the government is willing to oppose his mad whims, no matter how dangerous and stupid.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] mokus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 points 1 week ago

The human race is so fucked

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Antisocial Personality Disorder with Narcissistic traits.

Jesus fuck. We have the worst kind of mental illness in a dude with power, drunk on that power.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] inkzombie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I misread that as mortality and got excited for a second

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

His power is also constrained by that.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 week ago

his “own morality”.

From a pedophile rapist and convicted felon.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Etterra@discuss.online 5 points 1 week ago
[–] Mihies@programming.dev 15 points 1 week ago

Basically no restraints, eh.

[–] BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] fonix232@fedia.io 14 points 1 week ago

Can someone please take care of the diapered, dementia-ridden orange shitsack please? Also, rescue that cat he's got stapled to his head. It's starting to look mangy...

[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 week ago

"It’s the only thing that can stop me,”

Famously the type of phrase said by the protagonist in the movies and not the villains.

[–] D_C@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 week ago

Then everything is fucked unless someone does something about the orange turd because that child rapist has no morality. None whatsoever.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

“I’m not looking to hurt people.”

"Why do you make me hit you, baby?"

[–] bagsy@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Jesus christ, how much blackmail does this asshole have? is he blackmailing half the worlds billionaires? How many names are really in the epstien files?

[–] Rothe@piefed.social 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I think you misunderstand his relationship with billionaires. Trump is an asset to billionaires. They have never had it as good as they have it under his administration. Removal of all regulation over their industries, dismantling of federal oversight and complete legal tax exemptions.

And all for what they consider pocket change as bribes to him.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] allriledup@piefed.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 week ago

Wait, drumpf has morals now? He must have gotten them between the rape, I guess?

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

This is the guy MAGA wanted. They project their personal power fantasies and approve of him acting on his own hatreds, whims and impulses the way they dream of.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 10 points 1 week ago

Despite desperately wishing this guy would encounter some fucking consequences... I kinda feel like hes not really wrong?

Like what does it matter what the law says if its not applied and there are no penalties?

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 9 points 1 week ago

He's above American law, why international law would restrict him?

[–] Frozentea725@feddit.uk 9 points 1 week ago

Read that as mortality, I thought I was some supervillain onion piece. Truth is not too far off though

[–] borQue@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 week ago
[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

He called it 'things and elements' instead of 'valuable minerals'

[–] Bakkoda@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Well on the upside, every single jackass who used to stop me and wanna argue politics doesn't even look me in the eye anymore.

[–] santa@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago

He doesn’t have any so we are f’d

[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

FYI, the technical term for a mind like his is "crackpot". Why anyone cares what he says is beyond me.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Because he's probably the single most powerful man in the world right now. He can send the US military anywhere in the world on a whim.

load more comments (2 replies)

Listen hear me out...

Can we just have a newsletter of "trump says" instead of reporting every fucking thing his geriatric mind spews 3 times a day? While it is important to be aware of the context of the crazy; at this point it isn't real news ffs! he's basically weekend at bernies at this point.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Power can be constrained by prison cells and handcuffs.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ChonkyLincoln@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

I’d love to drink that bottle of champagne in my fridge soon

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago

Okay, then why does he continue to fail so spectacularly?

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Huh.

Sounds like how kings work.

[–] Asfalttikyntaja@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And this is only first week of the year…

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›