The Legal Perspective: Strikes Against Tren de Aragua and Hamas

On this episode of Reaganism, host Roger Zakheim sits down with Matt Waxman, a professor at Columbia University Law School. Roger and Matt discuss the Trump administration's recent strike against the Tren de Aragua gang in the Caribbean. Matt outlines the constitutional and international legal hurdles the president faces authorizing the strike. Matt and Roger discuss the intricacies of the authorization for the use of military force, and the distinctions between Al Qaeda and cartel groups like Tren de Aragua. Roger and Matt explore the White House's use of the president's Article II powers to justify the strike against Tren de Aragua. They conclude the conversation with an evaluation of Israel's strike against Hamas in Qatar, Matt finds the strike was justified under international law, but draws important distinctions between Israel's strike and how the US would conduct a similar strike. Roger and Matt finish the episode by concluding Israel's strike was escalatory and opens a new chapter in the Israel-Hamas war.