From Biden to Trump: The Demise of Political Morality
Photograph Source: The White House – Public Domain
For most of American history, ethics. morality and law have served as important guardrails in the exercise of foreign relations. In recent years, however, political morality (applying moral judgments to political actions) has bowed to presidential overreach and political power. We are witnessing the possible demise of political morality.
The most egregious breach may be found in the IDF bombings of Palestinians in Gaza that have killed more than 70,000 people (mostly women and children). Since the so-called ceasefire of last October, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Gazans and have continued their mass starvation policy by blocking the entry of food trucks. Most aid organizations and war experts have condemned Israel’s violence as genocide.
American complicity with Israeli war crimes began on October 10, 2023, when former President Joe Biden declared his unconditional support for Israel’s retaliation for the October7 Hamas massacre. He and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken then directed a regular flow of lethal arms to the IDF for the indiscriminate bombing of Palestinians in Gaza.
Article III (e) of the Genocide Convention of 1949 includes “Complicity in Genocide” as one of the punishable acts. Article IV provides: “Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.” U.S. complicity with the Gaza genocide began with Biden and continues under Trump. Yet just days ago, the Senate defeated two “joint resolutions of disapproval” that would have blocked the sale to Israel of almost half a billion dollars in bombs and armed bulldozers. American complicity in genocide continues unabated.
The second most serious breach in political morality occurred on February 28,2026 when the U.S, began its illegal war of choice against Iran. On the first day of the war, Donald Trump’s “Department of War” bombed, then “double tapped,” a primary school in Minab, Iran. killing at estimated 165 young girls and some 13 adults. The President denied culpability and has never apologized–in the face of overwhelming evidence that the deadly missiles came from American planes. Whether the attack on the school was misdirected or intended, there were no apologies.
In between those two cited atrocities (genocide in Gaza and school bombings in Iran), Donald Trump has doubled down on U.S. arms transfers to Israel and acquiesced in its mass starvation and ethnic cleansing policies. Trump continues to participate in the Gaza genocide by sending arms to Netanyahu and his IDF. Under the complicity provision of the Genocide Convention, both Trump and Biden could find themselves subject to arrest and trial at the Hague.
Violating U.S. and international law, the U.S. has blown-up fishing boats in Caribbean and eastern Pacific waters, that were “suspected” of transporting drugs. Such extrajudicial killings (“murders”) have already taken the lives of more than 125 people. In at least one case, a boat survivor was left to drown.
On January 3, 2026, the United States launched a large-scale pre-dawn military strike inside Venezuela. It resulted in the capture of President Nicholas Maduro and took 40-80 (mostly civilian) lives. Maduro and his wife remain jailed the U.S. While Trump and Hegseth hailed the operation as a glorious military success, to a fair-minded observer it was simply the aggression of a tyrant.
In a New York Times interview published on January 8, 2026, Trump defined the limits on his global powers as “my own morality. It’s the only thing that can stop me” He added: “I don’t need international law.” Surprisingly, there has been scant pushback from the mainstream media or the public at large. The President’s critics have focused more on the political consequences of U.S. policies abroad than on his total disregard of international humanitarian law. In the exercise of U.S. military power, there seems to be no longer guardrails of morality, neither in the Executive branch, nor in the Congress nor in the Supreme Court.
The sole dissenting voice these days has come from the Vatican. Pope Leo XIV has called for morality in foreign relations. He has cited the limits of “just war.” During his recent visit to Cameroon, the Pope condemned leaders who spend billions on wars. Without naming individuals, he said the world is “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.” It remains to be seen whether Leo’s moral message will resonate enough with the public to restore political morality.
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