Australia’s allegiance to the US is being tested as the Trump administration faces accusations of illegal military action and escalating national security recklessness.
Sat 13 Dec 2025 01.00
Photo: Official White House Photo/Patrick Witty
Australia’s allegiance to the US is being tested as the Trump administration faces accusations of illegal military action and escalating national security recklessness.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lauded the relationship in October when he met President Donald Trump in Washington DC, declaring, “There are no closer friends and allies than the United States of America and Australia.”
However, it’s since to come to light the Trump administration had ordered a controversial “double-tap” strike in the Caribbean just weeks earlier – a move legal and defence experts believe was “probably illegal”.
“It bombed the boat once and then it bombed again, killing two survivors from the initial attack,” said host Angus Blackman on the Australia Institute’s After America podcast.
“In a state of declared war, of course they blow up boats all the time,” said Allan Behm, the Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs advisor.
“But in this particular case, military operations against suspected drug smugglers are pretty unusual.
“So, to conduct airstrikes against a speedboat is not only unusual, but in the minds of most international law experts and particularly those who know about the laws of armed conflict, it’s also illegal.”
The US has been ramping up its pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro’s government.
“Trump doesn’t like Maduro,” explained Mr Behm. “A president like Trump will take his dislikes out in pretty active form.
However, he stressed, the issue goes beyond a personal vendetta.
“Venezula is sitting on the world’s greatest oil reserves, so you’ve got to see it also in terms of America’s long-term wish to dominate Venezuela’s oil exports to its advantage.”
Under the laws of war, it’s a crime to willfully kill or target someone who has been injured and is no longer able to fight.
“We’ve had a taste of that in Australia, as you know, with allegations of very serious criminality on the part of our own special forces,” noted Mr Behm.
“In these situations, the problem is in initiating a war-like act at the very beginning, being compounded by illegal activities to follow it. So, you have compounding illegalities.”
Legal experts say the Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela this week was “almost certainly in breach of international laws”.
“The President, as Commander in Chief, is using the military under his own authority,” said Mr Behm on the podcast.
It comes as the Pentagon’s top watchdog found US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth potentially endangered military personnel when he used his personal phone and the Signal app to share information about an upcoming strike in Yemen.
“The timing of it was so close to the actual event that he was putting at risk the lives of American servicemen essentially, and that, of course, is a total no-no,” said Allan Behm on the Australia Institute’s After America podcast.
The group message accidentally included a journalist from The Atlantic.
“If it were to be you or I who transmitted that, it would be a felony in the United States. We would have committed a crime.
“The fact of the matter is he should have known better because he should have had highly skilled and highly experienced advisors around him who would’ve kept him narrowly within the military’s communication systems.
“So, in my own opinion, this is irresponsible. I think that it is culpable. It is for him either to resign or for the President to sack him. And I suspect neither of those things will happen.”
President Trump appeared more focused on his social media earlier in the week, posting 160 times in less than five hours on his Truth Social platform.
Mr Blackman said the topics ranged from “conspiracy theories, attacks on his political opponents and self-congratulatory messages” and had him wondering, “Are the wheels coming off?”
“Trump is a brilliant user of short form media,” explained Mr Behm. “I would say he is the best. He has this remarkable capacity to use Truth Social to hammer home the acceptability of untruth.
“He’s a slogan-ist and his slogans are pretty good. Just look at the awful nicknames he gives to people. They’re malicious, they’re vicious but they’re terribly effective.
He said, despite CNN’s Poll of Polls putting his approval rating at 39%, the Democrats still have a big job ahead.
“Trump has got this great capacity to regroup and to feed rancid raw meet to his base.
“He’s absolutely brilliant at it.”
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