President Donald Trump ran in 2024 on a campaign that swore to avoid dragging the U.S. into foreign wars, instead focusing on home prosperity. Earlier this year, the White House referred to him as the “President of Peace.”
But that title is being scrutinized following the U.S. decision to strike Iran over the weekend.
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“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” said Trump as he announced the launch of U.S.-Israeli military action early Saturday morning.
The targeted strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior figures of the Iranian regime. And the impact is being felt beyond the Middle East, with Iran launching widespread retaliatory strikes against the U.S.-aligned Gulf states.
On Monday morning, a British airbase in Cyprus was targeted, hours after U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he was changing course and allowing the U.S. to use British bases to launch defensive missiles.
As the Iran war widens, Trump said in an interview that Iranian leaders “want to talk” and he has agreed to speak with them. When asked how long the military operation would last, he declined to specify a timeline, though he later said it could extend up to four weeks. He has also refused to rule out deploying ground troops in Iran, “if necessary.”
So far, four U.S. troops have been killed, and others seriously wounded.
Trump called the fallen service members “true American patriots” in a public address, admitting that “sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is.”
The strikes on Iran mark the latest military action ordered by Trump following his return to the White House in January 2025.
Here are the countries and areas Trump has ordered strikes on in his second term:
2025
Somalia
On Feb. 1, the U.S. carried out airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes were directed by Trump and coordinated with Somalia’s government. The Pentagon assessed that “multiple” operatives were killed and no civilians were harmed. Trump later said that a senior IS planner and recruits were targeted.
Iraq
On March 13, U.S.-led coalition forces, alongside Iraqi national intelligence services and Security Forces, killed a senior Islamic State leader in a “precision airstrike” in Iraq’s western Al Anbar province, according to U.S. Central Command.
Trump said on March 14 that a “fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed” after being “relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters.”
Yemen
Between March and May, the U.S. launched naval and airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in what was codenamed Operation Rough Rider, the largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East during Trump’s second term at that time.
The strikes targeted radar systems, air defenses, and missile and drone launch sites in response to the Houthis targeting international vessels in the Red Sea.
On May 6, Trump declared the campaign over “effective immediately,” following a cease-fire brokered by Oman between the U.S. and the Houthis.
Iran
In early June, amid negotiations over nuclear capabilities, Israel began striking Iranian targets. On June 22, the U.S. joined the campaign, striking three key nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan in Operation Midnight Hammer, using B‑2 bombers and submarine-launched Tomahawks.
Trump said the strikes had “completely and totally obliterated” the facilities and Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based organization, reported at least 5,665 casualties, including 1,190 killed and 4,475 injured, both military and civilian, as a result of the broader 12-day conflict.
Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean
On Sept. 2, the U.S. carried out its first strike against what Trump said was a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela and was operated by Tren de Aragua.
The strikes later expanded to routes in nearby Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific off Central America.
The strikes continued into the new year. On Feb. 16, three separate U.S. military strikes killed 11 people on three boats that the military deemed were “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” in the Caribbean Sea.
Read More: Which Countries Have Stopped Sharing Intelligence With U.S. Over Boat Strikes in Caribbean?
Syria
On Dec. 19, the U.S. carried out large-scale strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria under Operation Hawkeye Strike. The campaign followed an IS attack on U.S. forces earlier that month where two U.S. soldiers and an American civil interpreter were killed. U.S. and Jordanian partner forces fired more than 100 precision munitions at over 70 targets in multiple locations across central Syria.
On Jan. 10, U.S. and partner forces conducted further large-scale strikes against multiple ISIS targets across Syria. Later, on Jan. 16 CENTCOM conducted a strike in northwest Syria that resulted in the death of Bilal Hasan al-Jasim, a leader affiliated with Al-Qaeda who had “direct ties to an ISIS terrorist responsible for an ambush which killed two U.S. service members and an American interpreter on Dec. 13, 2025.”
Nigeria
Trump initially deployed 100 U.S. military personnel to Nigeria to train local forces, threatening strikes if the government did not address what he described as a “genocide” of Christians. Nigerian officials rejected that characterization, describing the violence as part of longstanding civil conflict.
On Dec. 25, U.S. Africa Command, in coordination with Nigerian authorities, conducted strikes against ISIS operatives in Sokoto State. Trump said the “powerful and deadly strike” killed multiple ISIS terrorists.
2026
Venezuela
On Jan. 3, American special operations forces carried out a pre-dawn raid in Caracas, bombing the capital and detaining Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transported to the U.S. to face trial on narco-terrorism charges.
Trump referred to the operation as one of the “most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.”
Iran
The U.S. military had been building up its presence in the Middle East region for weeks amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
After last Thursday’s third round of indirect talks in Geneva between U.S. and Iranian officials yielded no deal, Trump moved ahead with a surprise military operation titled Operation Epic Fury without congressional approval.