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[–] 15 points 2 years ago (1 child)

It's called the Logan Act. There are actually laws about how civilians can interact with foreign officials. Dennis Rodman famously violated those laws when he went to North Korea to act in an official capacity that wasn't officially sanctioned. Trump is a civilian until inauguration, so his meetings with heads of state to discuss official matters (not just shooting the shit about movies and new restaurants) would have had to be sanctioned to be legal.

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  • [+] 1 point 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Just like it says: Rodman went in an official capacity but wasn’t given the authority. He did it on his own. It wasn’t officially sanctioned so he either lied or was just oblivious.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Sounds like grey area to me, couldn't he just have met them as 'friends' or did he seriously identify himself as US president before he was inaugurated? Or is the law that strict?

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    He claimed to negotiate and just generally be there in the name of the US. Who cares about a president? We have lots of people that operate in an official capacity to other countries that aren’t remotely close to the president. You simply cannot state you are operating with US authority in foreign relations unless you are specifically authorized.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    That makes sense. It sounds hard to prove though, it'd have to be on record that he (Trump) was suggesting he was meeting those people on behalf of the US instead of just as a friendly visit

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