Did Trump Just Define His Legacy?

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Transcript

00:00Just maybe. Trump just scored a foreign policy success that could define his legacy.

00:07By striking Venezuela and whisking away Maduro, Trump removed an illegitimate dictator.

00:13If all goes well, he opened the door for Venezuela to return to democracy and stability.

00:19But that's a big if.

00:21Trump obviously hopes for an orderly transition to the democratic opposition,

00:25but the Chavistas may remain in charge and a new dictator may clamp down.

00:30Or the country could descend into civil war.

00:32In a nightmare, Venezuela would become a failed state.

00:36That would raise the same questions that have all along dogged the unlawful strikes against boats in the Caribbean.

00:43Why is Trump obsessed with Maduro?

00:46The cost that's hardest to quantify is the damage Trump has done to international law.

00:52Maduro was bad, but he had not attacked the U.S.

00:56And this intervention violated the United Nations charter.

01:00It probably also broke American law.

01:03Trump should have asked Congress, but he didn't.

01:05Everything now depends on what happens next in Venezuela.

01:10If it spirals into chaos, Trump will look like a bully who bombs but can't build.

01:16But if Venezuela eventually thrives, and maybe even all of South America,

01:21then all those qualms won't matter.

01:24Trump will have made one part of the world better, and he'll deserve credit.