The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a former professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College in Rhode Island, delivered a dire warning Friday about President Donald Trump and his continuing military strikes on suspected drug boats in Pacific and Caribbean waters.
Nichols discussed the controversial military strikes on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” siding firmly with constitutional Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) in condemning the operations as extrajudicial acts that avoid due process and congressional approval.
“Basically the president — and I want to kind of foot stomp behind Paul here about a plan — the American president has said, ‘I can point the U.S. military any place I want and kill anyone I want,’” Nichols told guest host Alicia Menendez on the air Friday.
“That, eventually, is going to become a principle in the domestic use of the military,” he continued. “He is acclimating people to the notion that the military is his private army, unconstrained by law, unconstrained by norms, unconstrained by American traditions.”
Paul has condemned the strikes, which began in early September and have killed at least 43 people, as “summary execution.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the military had conducted its 10th strike on a suspected drug-running vessel.
The Pentagon further confirmed Friday that the military is deploying an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, which spokesman Sean Parnell said will “bolster” the capacity to “detect, monitor, and disrupt” drug trafficking from the region into the U.S.
While both Paul and Nichols are calling for due process, Trump told reporters Thursday, his administration is “just going to kill people that are bringing drugs” into the country. “I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war” from Congress, he said.
Nichols appeared unconvinced by the administration’s stated reason for the operations. He argued Friday that the strikes might not even have “anything to do with drugs” and that they mainly seem to serve as a precedent for expanded executive powers over the U.S. military.
Nichols noted that the strikes are also diverting attention from another serious matter.
“I wonder how far he’s going to go to stop the release of the Epstein files and how many distractions he’s going to throw at us,” he said. “But this is about getting out from under his already dismal record, his record low approval ratings, his struggling with a scandal.”
Trump has tried to distance himself from late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whose death and known ties to powerful people fueled theories of a “client list” that Trump officials had vowed to release — before Trump reversed course and called the documents a “hoax.”
The Economist has Trump’s current net approval rating sitting at 56%.
“And he is now saying, ‘I am going to acclimate the American public to the use of military force anywhere I deem it,’” said Nichols, adding Trump might “have us in a war by the time the elections roll around” to deem any opposition to him as “treason and unpatriotic.”
The president has made numerous comments about a potential third, unconstitutional term.