Warmonger: Trump’s second term sees highest external attacks by the U.S. in a decade

When the U.S. President Donald Trump took office for his second term in January last year, he claimed that his proudest legacy would be that of a “peacemaker and unifier”. In the initial months after inauguration, Mr Trump also openly lobbied for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, contrary to his words, the legacy of Mr Trump during his second tenure has seen an explosion in hostile actions, euphemistically termed “coercive diplomacy”, the “Donroe Doctrine” etc, besides military operations that have exacerbated conflicts across the world.

In fact, data maintained by the Armed Conflict Location and Events Data Project (ACLED) show that Mr Trump’s second tenure has seen the highest number of external interventions by the U.S. forces and resultant casualties in the last 15 years.

An analysis of external interventions by the U.S. shows that the first year of Mr Trump’s second term saw at least 663 military intervention events (air strikes, attacks, disruptions by weapons use) in other sovereign nations. In 2025 alone, the U.S.’s external attacks surged by almost 50% compared to 2024.

This is even higher than the number of such interventions recorded during his entire first presidential term between 2017 and 2021. While the final year of the Joe Biden administration also saw a high number of such interventions with 453 events, the numbers surged further under Mr Trump, in stark contrast to his promises of ending foreign wars.

Data show that between 2011 and 2014, the highest share of U.S. involvement was seen in South Asia, specifically in Pakistan. However, in the last five years, the U.S.’s involvement increased dramatically in West Asia and Eastern Africa, specifically in Yemen and Somalia. The chart below shows the region-wise number of the U.S.’s external attacks and fatalities.

Yemen accounted for almost 60% of the U.S.’s external attacks in the last ten years, resulting in more than 1,400 fatalities. While the U.S. began its attacks on Yemen in 2002, following the 9/11 attacks, the interventions increased after the collapse of the Yemeni government in early 2015.

In 2025, President Donald Trump initiated significant military strikes on Houthis, marking the largest U.S. operation in the region since he took office. The U.S. even vowed to continue these attacks as long as the Houthis conducted attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

The situation was also dire in Somalia, which accounted for close to 30% of the U.S.’s external attacks. Since 2015, the U.S.’s engagements have resulted in more than 4,000 fatalities.

In 2020, at the time of his first administration, Mr Trump had ordered the Pentagon to withdraw most U.S. troops from Somalia, where they were deployed in an extended fight against al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate. Mr Biden, who took office after Mr Trump, reversed this order in 2022. However, the current administration under Mr Trump has not shown any indication of reverting to the old ways. The U.S. forces have engaged in more than 150 attacks in Somalia since 2025, almost half the total number of attacks carried out during Trump’s entire first term.

In his inaugural speech last year, Mr Trump also said, “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”

Mr Trump has contradicted himself by getting the U.S. involved in Israel’s wars on Iran – hostilities whose ending even Mr Trump is unsure of.

An analysis by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies pointed out that though the recent U.S. military presence in West Asia is at its highest level since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, it is inadequate in the size and capabilities required for major combat or regime change .

Last August, claiming credit for settling the India-Pakistan tensions, Mr Trump said, “I love saving lives…And you know, when you save lives, you really end up having a peaceful world.”

Data contradict this too. Mr Trump’s first year of his second term has left the country with more blood on its hands than any other President’s terms in the past 15 years.

Last year was the most severe in terms of fatalities with at least a thousand people being killed by U.S.-led forces – significantly higher than the death toll due to interventions in each of the preceding four years. The U.S.’s joint attacks with Israel too have come at a severe human cost with reports stating thousands of casualties.

Mr Trump’s idea of peace is unpopular even among Americans. As shown in the chart below, more than 40% of Americans disapproved of Mr Trump’s attack on Iran.

A similar sentiment was observed earlier this year when American forces invaded Venezuela. Only 33% of Americans approved of the U.S. military action to remove Mr Maduro, the most dramatic U.S. intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion, in which close to 200 American troops entered Caracas.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump stated in an interview with The New York Times that his morality was the only limit to his power, and only his mind could stop him from exerting it. With data contradicting his many statements, this might be the only one that still rings true.

Published – March 13, 2026 07:00 am IST