Trump’s Tweets and Authorization of War

President Trump’s Tweet from April 11, 2018

“Get Ready Russia!  Because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’  You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas-Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”  These were the words of Donald Trump through his infamously favorite social media outlet. It seems as though President Trump really thrives off of his social media popularity, but could this be different?  The days of defeating “Little Marco,” and “Crooked Hillary” are over and the important decisions have been crossing President Trump’s desk. There seems to be much more involved in his posts then simply gaining ego-boosting likes and follows.  This quote comes from one of last month’s posts and is directed at Russia’s Republic and Vladimir Putin in regards to Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad. In our Constitutional system, it isn’t in the President’s arsenal to be able to declare war on his own – let alone through something like Twitter.  This is to be done with combined work between the Executive and Legislature. Wars declared in the past without our citizens interest in mind have proven to be disastrous. However, as seen in the past, the Executives often seek action within soley their grasps to avoid the dramatic and formality of asking for Congress’s approval.  It may be, because of this, that we see a Twitter-crazed President thriving off of this freedom of easy expression.

Debatably the most disturbing thing from President Trump’s post was his nonshelaunt manner of describing Syria’s nuclear weapons, designed for the sole purpose of killing thousands of people.  It is the idea that Trump could be indifferent with imperative decisions involving the war.

The idea of Presidential War, or this political maneuverability without our trademarked checks and balances, is a very new idea.  There are seemingly more and more loopholes in Article II of the Constitution that give the Executive power to maintain individual action in foreign affairs.  There is also questions not answered in the Constitution and are therefore left up for interpretation. For example, if American troops are abroad fighting an Al-Qaeda threat – is it within our power to fight a third-party force that threatens our safety or the safety of innocent parties?     

The Syrian civil-war has been an ongoing conflict for many years has begun to involve several other outside nations, including Turkey supporting the Syrian opposition against the Republic.  These complex situations occurring abroad on a global level, tied with our rashly diplomatic President can potentially lead to serious issues. President Trump’s inexperience and position of power has led him to become too rash for the safety of our population.  I feel as though we’d be much better off leaving diplomacy within the mutual grasp of the Executive and Legislative.