But this latest international episode—with the U.S. military killing 11 people in a boat from Venezuela—seems particularly threatening because it involves war.

The strike on the Venezuelan boat represents a new kind of war, in which our government claims the right to summarily execute civilians from the air in what legal experts, including from the military, consider illegal killings.

Referring to the alleged drug trafficking boat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “Instead of interdicting it, on the president’s orders, we blew it up. And it will happen again.” Trump also boasted after the attack: “When they watch that tape, they’re going to say, ‘Let’s not do this.'”

It seems like this intimidation could be one of the main points of this operation: to show the world that the United States can do this, to whomever they want, whenever they want. Even when there is no actual war and the people assassinated—who are still unknown—pose no imminent threat to other people’s lives.

The record shows that the Trump administration has been preparing for this transformation of war—redefining military attacks on certain civilians as legitimate, defensive actions—since Trump took office and even before. In January, Trump issued an executive order mandating that “certain international cartels” and “other organizations” be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Since then, they have continually moved toward the policy—illegal under U.S. and international law and treaties—of treating alleged drug-trafficking suspects as enemy combatants.

This abandonment of the rule of law, and the removal of restrictions on the use of force and violence outside the U.S., has real implications for Americans at home.

It is possible that Trump could actually cause a war, given the military actions he has been threatening for months—including attacks on Mexican territory. Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have also indicated that Rubio’s long-sought goal of regime change in Venezuela is still on the agenda.

A war, for instance in Venezuela, could be used to justify more repression at home. Trump has already tried to do just that, invoking a fictional “invasion” of the U.S. by a South American gang to deploy the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

In violation of the U.S. Constitution and decades of court decisions, Trump has sent federal troops into Los Angeles and Washington D.C.—against the wishes of the vast majority of residents as well as state and local authorities. This includes the state of California, which legally and historically has had the right to make this decision.

A federal magistrate judge in D.C. reviewing the operation there said it had touched off a “constitutional crisis” and warned that “the rule of law is being flushed down the toilet,” as reported by the Washington Post.

Trump’s most recent threats to Chicago sound frighteningly unhinged. “Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” he said, alluding to his executive order rebranding the Defense Department under its former name, the Department of War. He added references to the graphically violent Vietnam War movie Apocalypse Now, for effect.

Thousands of people took to the streets in protest in Washington D.C. and Chicago this past weekend. Governors Gavin Newsom of California and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois have condemned Trump’s actions and threats, and taken steps to resist them, including legal action.

Members of Congress have also condemned the military strike on the boat, including Reps. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.), and Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The top Democrats on the House Armed Services and Intelligence Committees both questioned the “legality and constitutionality” of the attack.

In response to the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean prior to the strike, and Trump administration threats directed at Venezuela, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Tex.) proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit the U.S. from using military force in, or against, Venezuela without Congressional authorization. The amendment has been cosponsored by eight other House members so far, including Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.).

All of this pushback—from the public as well as political leaders—needs to get stronger, before it’s too late, and Trump’s new forms of warfare abroad and at home become even more normalized.