Trump broadens U.S. military footprint

Axios Axios —

https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump has expanded military operations across multiple regions during his second term, with U.S. forces targeting drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific even as American and Iranian officials pursue a https://www.axios.com/2026/05/28/iran-war-us-military-strikes-peace-talks" target="_blank">peace deal.

Why it matters: Trump's expanding military operations are testing whether his https://www.axios.com/2026/01/03/trump-venezuela-maduro-america-first" target="_blank">America First doctrine can accommodate a growing U.S. military footprint overseas.

  • Andrew Latham, a political science professor at Macalester College in Minnesota, tells Axios that Trump "launched these campaigns because he sees military force differently from the way the Bush-era foreign policy establishment saw it."
  • It's not about refashioning societies into America's image, Latham says.

    Instead, it fits Trump's view of politics: "threats are personal, borders matter, weakness invites contempt, and force is useful when it produces a visible result."

What they're saying: "All of President Trump's actions have put America First and made our homeland safer," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a Sunday-evening email.

  • "There is nothing more America First than eliminating the threat of a nuclear Iran, stopping illicit drugs from entering our country, and killing terrorists who want to murder Americans."

Here's where Trump has sent the U.S. military:

Latin America and surrounding waters



An https://apnews.com/article/boat-strikes-drug-trafficking-us-military-525f68b1cd8be48a890e4fdc6ea13087" target="_blank">estimated 207 people have died in U.S. strikes on https://www.axios.com/2026/05/06/southern-spear-boat-strikes-congress" target="_blank">suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, when the Trump administration announced it had https://www.axios.com/2025/09/02/us-shot-boat-venezuela-trump-drug-trafficking" target="_blank">killed 11 members of the Tren de Aragua drug cartel near Venezuela.

The latest: U.S. Southern Command https://x.com/Southcom/status/2062332837940883560" target="_blank">said Wednesday night that a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific had killed two people it described as "male narco-terrorists."

In Caracas in January, the U.S. military captured Venezuelan leader https://www.axios.com/2026/01/03/maduro-capture-trump-venezuela-operation" target="_blank">Nicolás Maduro.

What we're watching: There's been a https://www.axios.com/2026/05/28/trump-cuba-squeeze-regime-change" target="_blank">military buildup near Cuba in recent weeks as Trump presses for political change, though Axios' Marc Caputo reports the president would prefer a peaceful transition.

Middle East

The Middle East has been a key focus of Trump's military operations — retaliatory airstrikes on https://www.axios.com/2025/03/15/us-air-strikes-houthis-yemen" target="_blank">Houthi rebels in Yemen in March 2025, https://www.axios.com/2025/03/15/isis-leader-killed-us-airstrike-iraqi-forces-abu-khadijah" target="_blank">killing a key ISIS leader in Iraq during the same period, and striking https://www.axios.com/2025/12/19/isis-strikes-syria-us" target="_blank">ISIS targets in Syria in December.

  • The U.S. has twice attacked Iran during Trump's second term.

Zoom in: In June 2025, Trump https://www.axios.com/2025/06/22/trump-iran-strike-israel-behind-scenes" target="_blank">directed U.S. forces to join Israel in bombing Iran during a 12-day war that targeted https://www.axios.com/2025/06/24/trump-iran-israel-ceasefire-victory" target="_blank">Iranian nuclear sites.

Africa

Somalia was the https://www.axios.com/2025/02/01/us-strikes-isis-somalia-trump" target="_blank">first country the U.S. military struck after Trump returned to office. https://www.axios.com/2025/06/11/us-africa-somalia-terrorism-airstrikes" target="_blank">Operations there have continued, with at least 63 joint airstrikes targeting ISIS and https://www.axios.com/2022/05/16/somalia-biden-us-troops-trump-withdrawal" target="_blank">al-Shabaab this year.

The bottom line: Trump "ran against endless wars, failed occupations, democracy-promotion, and the habit of spending American blood and treasure on other people's political fantasies," Latham says.

  • "Blowing up a target connected to drugs, terrorism, or Iran's nuclear program can be sold as homeland defense.

    The difficulty begins when the strike is no longer a strike but a campaign," he says. "America First can justify a sharp use of force.

    It has a much harder time justifying drift."

Go deeper: https://www.axios.com/2026/06/03/trump-rubio-greenland-canada-takeover-talk" target="_blank">Trump allies renew Greenland, Canada takeover talk

Read full article at Axios →

US Military Kills Drug Smugglers