Trump broadens U.S. military footprint
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the White House on Wednesday. Photo: Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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 peace deal.
Why it matters: Trump's expanding military operations are testing whether his 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 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 estimated 207 people have died in U.S. strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, when the Trump administration announced it had killed 11 members of the Tren de Aragua drug cartel near Venezuela.
The latest: U.S. Southern Command said Wednesday night that a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific had killed two people it described as "male narco-terrorists."
- SOUTHCOM announced three deaths from a boat strike in the same region last weekend.
In Caracas in January, the U.S. military captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
- Maduro pleaded not guilty to charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and is in pre-trial detention in New York.
What we're watching: There's been a 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 Houthi rebels in Yemen in March 2025, killing a key ISIS leader in Iraq during the same period, and striking ISIS targets in Syria in December.
- The U.S. has twice attacked Iran during Trump's second term.
Zoom in: In June 2025, Trump directed U.S. forces to join Israel in bombing Iran during a 12-day war that targeted Iranian nuclear sites.
- In February, U.S. and Israeli forces again launched strikes, and Tehran responded with retaliatory attacks against American allies across the Middle East.
- The U.S. and Iran have since clashed in the Strait of Hormuz, as negotiations to end the war continue.
Africa
Somalia was the first country the U.S. military struck after Trump returned to office. Operations there have continued, with at least 63 joint airstrikes targeting ISIS and al-Shabaab this year.
- U.S. and Nigerian officials have cooperated in striking ISIS targets on several occasions.
- Trump cited the persecution of Christians in Nigeria as a justification for the strikes, though Nigerian officials say Islamic extremist groups are also attacking Muslims.
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: Trump allies renew Greenland, Canada takeover talk
