Rand Paul Compares Trump’s Lawless Caribbean Strikes to Dictatorships
Senator Rand Paul is on a campaign to knock President Donald Trump off of his warpath.
During Paul’s appearance on Fox News Sunday, host Shannon Bream asked the Kentucky Republican what information he wanted the government to provide about its military strikes in the Caribbean Sea. But Paul said that a briefing wasn’t what he was after.
“A briefing’s not enough to overcome the Constitution,” Paul said. “The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it. And during a war then, [there are] lower rules for engagement and people do sometimes get killed without due process.
“But the drug war, or the crime war, has typically been something we do through law enforcement. And so far they have alleged that these people are drug dealers. No one said their name, no one said their evidence,” Paul said. “So, at this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings.
“This is akin to what China does, to [what] Iran does with drug dealers; they summarily execute people without providing evidence to the public, so it’s wrong,” Paul said.
Both Iran and China have been known to secretly execute drug dealers, without providing due process. Paul, a Libertarian, has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s policy on the strikes, pointing to the military’s likely illegal drones, as well as the statistical likelihood that some of its targets are mistaken.
The U.S. conducted its tenth strike on a foreign vessel on Friday, killing another six people without providing any actual evidence linking the boats to any drug cartel. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed the ship was operated by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
Trump also ordered an aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean, in a major escalation of military tension between the U.S. and Venezuela. Last week, Trump stated his intention to expand his lawless strikes to dry land—bragging that Congress wouldn’t stop him.
Donald Trump’s latest doctor visit turned out to be a fairly serious medical evaluation.
The president stopped by Walter Reed Medical Center earlier this month, but the president’s team refused for days to explain why. Apparently it was for MRI scans, a medical tool typically used to assess tumors, joint injuries, or heart conditions. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Monday, Trump claimed the visit was little more than a “routine yearly checkup”—despite the fact that he had his annual physical just six months ago.
“I got an MRI,” he said before touching down in Japan. “It was perfect.”
The president did not elaborate on what the doctors were looking for or what they had found, though the 79-year-old did emphasize that the doctors allegedly told him he had “some of the best reports” they had ever seen.
“You can ask the doctors,” he said. “Nobody has ever given you reports like I give you.”
Trump then went on to brag about his IQ, claiming that “aptitude tests” he received at Walter Reed proved he was superior to his political opponents—especially compared to a couple of healthy young women.
“You give her an IQ test. Have her pass, like, the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed,” Trump said referring to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “I took—those are very hard—they’re really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way.”
Trump also derided Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett, suggesting that she too should grapple with the “very hard” tests, which he said included questions about “tigers, an elephant, a giraffe.” It’s unclear what test this could be referring to, but it sounds remarkably similar to Trump’s infamous “person, woman, man, camera, TV” test—which health experts have revealed is a test to check for signs of dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other cognitive issues.
The White House said that the president was in “excellent overall health” after his October 10 visit, referring to the testing as “advanced imaging.” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to clarify that language during a White House press briefing last week, rejecting a reporter’s query as to whether that meant Trump had received MRI scans.
“Advanced imaging is something that presidents receive and people receive when they go to the doctor, and so we provided a detailed readout of that physical, and I would encourage you back for that,” she said.
When pressed again on the matter, Leavitt said: “I don’t know the exact imaging that took place, but as the physician’s note said, the president is in incredibly good shape and I think that’s evidenced here every single day.”
Trump’s health has been a topic of concern since he was on the campaign trail, when reports circulated that he couldn’t remember the contents of the cognitive exams he claimed to ace. Since then, the president has been spotted with odd discolorations on his hand, routinely appears discombobulated and lethargic during critical meetings with world leaders, and had a drooping expression during 9/11 ceremonies in September that onlookers © New Republic





















Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Tarik Cyril Amar
Mort Laitner
Stefano Lusa
Mark Travers Ph.d
Andrew Silow-Carroll
Ellen Ginsberg Simon