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11-03-2026
WASHINGTON: Trump made a simple promise again and again during his last election campaign, and repeated it once more in his presidential victory speech: “I’m going to stop wars.”
Yet the US president, who covets the Nobel Peace Prize, has used the US military to strike at targets in seven foreign nations and in international waters.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration released a new defence strategy, with a focus on restoring “American military dominance in the Western Hemisphere”.
Venezuela
Reports of a military operation to capture Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro started circulating on January 3.
The US launched air strikes in northern Venezuela, captured Maduro and his wife, and removed from them from the country to face charges in the US.
Syria
The US has ongoing military operations in Syria targeting Islamic State (IS, otherwise known as ISIS).
In December 2025, US forces in coordination with the Jordanian military struck more than 70 targets across central Syria.
These specific attacks dubbed Operation Hawkeye Strike were in direct retaliation for an attack that killed two US soldiers and one US civilian interpreter in the city of Palmyra.
Nigeria
In coordination with the Nigerian government the US conducted several bombings targeting IS in the north of the country on Christmas Day in 2025. Trump said the strikes were in response to targeted killings of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government disputes.
Pacific and Caribbean boat strikes
Since September 2025, US armed forces have been attacking what the White House alleges are drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific. As of February 23, 2026, the New York Times has documented 44 strikes that have killed 150 people.
Iran 2025
In June 2025, Trump ordered his first major military operation against Iran with the bombing of several targets, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, related to Iran’s nuclear weapons programs.
Somalia
The US has had ongoing operations targeting militants in Somalia largely the group’s al-Shabaab and IS-Somalia since George W Bush started the “war on terror” after the September 11 attacks in 2001. However, the Trump administration has dramatically increased the scale of these operations.
Iraq
With the cooperation of Iraqi forces the US conducted a precision air strike targeting and killing the second-in-command of IS in March 2025.
Yemen
A campaign of air strikes led by the US and the UK, and supported by international partners including Australia, against Houthis in Yemen began under Joe Biden’s presidency in response to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
Iran 2026
Finally we come to last week’s attack by the US and Israel on Iran. It is by far the largest foreign military operation Trump has initiated, transforming a collection of smaller but connected conflicts into what is quickly turning into a war engulfing the entire region. (Int’l News Desk)
