Even as Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, his second term in office has been marked by an unusually broad use of American military power across the world.
In just over a year, the United States has carried out military operations in at least seven countries, including Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela. Some of these actions represent the first time Washington has conducted strikes of this nature in those regions.
The White House maintains that Trump remains committed to diplomacy and conflict resolution. Officials argue that decisive military force is sometimes necessary to achieve long-term stability and bring adversaries to the negotiating table.
However, the scale and frequency of these interventions stand in contrast to the image Trump projected during the 2024 presidential campaign as a leader who would keep the United States out of new wars.
Operation Epic Fury and the Iran conflict
The most significant military operation of Trump’s second term is Operation Epic Fury, a joint United States and Israeli campaign launched on February 28, 2026.
The offensive followed weeks of American military reinforcement across West Asia, creating the largest concentration of US forces in the region since the 2003 Iraq invasion.
In the early phase of the operation, Israeli air strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with several senior figures in Iran’s political and military leadership.
The killing of the Iranian leader dramatically escalated the conflict. Since then, US and Israeli forces have continued targeting military and strategic sites inside Iran while Iranian missiles and drones have struck locations across the Gulf.
The campaign expanded earlier American military action in June 2025, when the United States attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan during a twelve day conflict initiated by Israel.
That operation killed more than 600 Iranians. At the time, Trump declared that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.
Unlike earlier limited actions, Operation Epic Fury was launched without formal authorisation from the United States Congress.
Yemen strikes against the Houthis
Yemen became another major theatre for American military operations.
Between March and May 2025, the United States carried out dozens of air and naval strikes against the Houthi movement. The Houthis had been attacking commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea in an effort to pressure Israel to halt its military campaign in Gaza.
American strikes targeted Houthi infrastructure but also resulted in civilian casualties. In April, a strike on the Ras Isa port in Hodeidah reportedly killed more than 80 civilians.
Human Rights Watch later said the incident should be investigated as a possible war crime.
Hostilities declined after Oman brokered a ceasefire in May.
Expanded air campaign in Somalia
Somalia has also experienced a major rise in American air strikes.
The United States has long supported Somali authorities in their fight against al Shabab and an affiliate of ISIS.
Data compiled by the New America Foundation shows that US forces conducted at least 111 strikes in Somalia during 2025 alone. Observers say that number exceeds the combined total recorded under the administrations of George W Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Operations in Syria and Iraq
American forces also carried out retaliatory strikes in Syria.
In December 2025, the United States attacked ISIS targets after a militant assault in Palmyra killed two American soldiers and a translator.
Trump said the United States was “inflicting very serious retaliation” against those responsible.
Syria later said that the attacker had been an employee of the country’s state security services who was being expelled because of extremist views.
Iraq also remained a centre of US counterterrorism operations. In March 2025, an American strike in Anbar province killed Abdallah “Abu Khadijah” Malli Muslih al Rifai, described as ISIS’s second in command.
Military activity in Nigeria and Venezuela
In Nigeria, Trump expanded security cooperation with the government and deployed around 100 American military personnel to train local forces.
He warned that the United States might conduct additional strikes if Nigeria did not do more to address what he called a “genocide” of Christians carried out by Muslim groups.
Nigerian authorities rejected this characterisation, saying the violence in the country is the result of complex intercommunal conflicts.
In December 2025, Trump announced that the United States had carried out “powerful and deadly” attacks against ISIS affiliates in northwestern Nigeria with the cooperation of the Nigerian government.
In January 2026, the United States launched a dramatic operation in Venezuela. American forces bombed targets in Caracas and abducted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuelan officials said that 83 people were killed in the attack, including security personnel and civilians.
At the same time, the United States carried out at least 45 strikes against vessels in Latin America and the Caribbean suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking.
According to monitoring group Airwars, these operations resulted in at least 151 deaths.
Trump and his allies argue that drug trafficking groups should be treated as foreign terrorist organisations because they pose a security threat to the United States.
Trump’s campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize
Despite these military operations, Trump has continued to argue that his diplomacy deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
He has cited several international initiatives as examples of his role in mediating conflicts.
In August, he helped bring together the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a declaration committing to peaceful relations.
Trump explained his approach in a radio interview.
“I got to know them through trade,” he said.
“I was dealing with them a little bit, and I said, ‘Why you guys fighting?’ Then I said, ‘I’m not going to do a trade deal if you guys are going to fight. It’s crazy.’”
Cambodia and Thailand also entered negotiations after Trump encouraged talks following border clashes in July.
In Africa’s Great Lakes region, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a US backed agreement in June aimed at reducing tensions linked to the Rwanda backed M23 rebel group.
Pakistan also nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize after a short conflict between India and Pakistan ended with a ceasefire on May 10. Trump later said he used trade leverage to help secure the truce, though India rejected that claim.
The United States has also said it is working to address tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The wider conflicts still unresolved
Several major global conflicts remain unresolved despite Trump’s diplomatic claims.
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues into its fifth year with millions of casualties.
In Gaza, fighting between Israel and Hamas continues despite intermittent ceasefire arrangements.
Trump has also expressed interest in reviving diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
During a visit to South Korea in October, he said, “We’ll come back, and we’ll, at some point in the not too distant future, meet with North Korea.”
During Trump’s first term, the two leaders held three summits. Negotiations eventually stalled over US demands that North Korea abandon its nuclear programme.
A doctrine of force and deterrence
Trump’s reliance on military force did not begin during his second term.
During his first presidency he authorised missile strikes against Syria in 2017 and 2018 and continued operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
In 2019, US special forces conducted the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
In 2020, American forces assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
During his second term, Trump expanded that approach through operations in Iran, Yemen and Nigeria.
He even began 2026 by authorising the seizure of Venezuela’s president.
Supporters of the administration describe the strategy as “peace through strength,” arguing that decisive military action deters adversaries and forces them to negotiate.
Yet as Trump continues to argue that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, the contrast between his diplomatic ambitions and the scale of American military action remains difficult to ignore.
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