Putinisation How Trump's latest gamble heralds a world without rules

Hardly anyone expected 2026 to be a year of peace, and it was barely two days old when the worst fears were confirmed.

- By Julian Borger

The strikes on Venezuela, the abduction of its leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, and Donald Trump's declaration last Saturday that the US would “run” the country and sell its oil, have driven another truck through international law and global norms. But that is not even the most concerning thing about it.

Trump has been driving convoys of bulldozers through that increasingly fragile edifice since taking office nearly a year ago, and now it is mostly wreckage. Last Saturday's events were preceded by airstrikes on small boats in the seas off Central America and the killing of their crews based on unproven allegations of drug trafficking, and the armed seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers on the high seas. It is not yet known how many people were killed in the capture of Maduro.

Trump's belief in his own global omnipotence, and his desire to grab the territory and natural resources of other countries, have been held in check until now by his fear of entanglement in foreign wars. His greatest ambition in 2025 seemed to be winning the Nobel peace prize.