Donald Trump: The “No New Wars” president is involved in so many conflicts.Image: watson/keystone
US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering launching a military operation in Mali – despite his campaign promise not to start new wars. An overview.
July 23, 2026, 7:34 p.mJuly 23, 2026, 7:34 p.m
Donald Trump often campaigned for his second term with the slogan “No New Wars.” He would detach the USA from its role as world police and use the resources used for this purpose for domestic projects.
A good two years later, the president, who has now been re-elected and sworn in, is considering deploying the US military in Mali. If deployed, this would be the eighth country in which Trump has flexed the military power of the United States in his second term in office. An overview.
Mali?
The latest first: According to a report by “Washington Post” The US President is considering taking military action in Mali against the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist group JNIM. The newspaper cites current and former (anonymous) government employees as sources.
Neither the Malian government nor the Pentagon responded to a request from The Washington Post. A White House official had no comment on the plans, but said the U.S. is urging the governments of North and West Africa to “purchase U.S. equipment and services to support their fight against terrorism.”
The employee added: “We urge regional partners and our NATO allies to support the Sahel Alliance in its fight against JNIM and IS.” The Sahel region has been plagued by growing Islamist militias for years.
The local governments – in Mali the junta government led by General Assimi Goita – are increasingly losing control in the fight against terrorists despite the use of hired Russian mercenary groups. It was only in April that JNIM was able to take a strategically important city in the north of the country in a well-coordinated offensive and kill the Malian defense minister in a suicide attack.
General Assimi Goita: He has so far unsuccessfully tried to push Islamist militias out of Mali.Image: keystone
The civilian population in Mali is suffering extremely from the level of violence – but it is not only coming from the Islamists. According to “Armed Conflict Location & Event Data”, 232 civilians were killed by JNIM and IS in Mali last year. However, the government and its mercenary groups (such as the infamous Wagner PMC) were responsible for 925 civilian deaths.
High-ranking US government officials are still divided over whether the operation should be carried out in Mali, writes the Washington Post. One criticism is that US interference could lead to direct conflict with Russian mercenary forces in the region – mercenary forces that are closely linked to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Last year, the Trump administration ramped up the exchange of intelligence information with Mali to a limited extent again after it was largely frozen under President Biden due to Malian cooperation with Russia and the undemocratic form of government.
Yemen
Under the code name Operation Poseidon Archer The US Biden administration, with support from Great Britain, carried out air strikes against Yemen from January 2024 to January 2025. The goal: The USA should destroy the Houthi militia’s capacity to fire on ships in the Red Sea. The Gaza ceasefire led to the end of the operation. In March, the newly sworn-in Trump started the Operation Rough Rider the follow-up.
Yemeni students swear their loyalty to the Houthis.Image: keystone
Between March 15 and May 6, 2025, American and British forces carried out over 1,000 airstrikes against targets in Yemen. According to the US government, 500 to 600 Houthi militiamen were killed; the Houthis speak of significantly fewer victims. To put it into perspective: The Houthi militia is not the officially recognized government of Yemen, but has de facto control over the country’s most important hubs as well as the capital Sanaa.
Operation Rough Rider ended in early May 2025 with a ceasefire between the United States and Yemen negotiated by Oman. But the relationship between the states remains tense: only on Thursday, the Houthis said they fired on a Saudi freighter in the Red Sea.
Somalia
The USA has been intervening militarily in Somalia since the 1990s – and Donald Trump is continuing the tradition. Originally, US interventions in the country in the Horn of East Africa were directed against rebel warlords and the terrorist group Al-Qaeda; The local IS offshoot and the rival Islamist group Al-Shabaab are now the target of the actions.
Somali soldiers clash with political groups in the capital Mogadishu.Image: keystone
During Trump’s second presidency, US armed forces are said to have carried out 203 missions – i.e. air strikes, drone strikes and operations on the ground. According to the think tank New America Between 190 and 420 people died, the majority of them combatants. Only Trump himself struck more often in Somalia: in his first term in office, the USA attacked 219 times.
Syria
Even after the fall of long-time Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and the assumption of power by interim President al-Sharaa, US forces carried out air strikes on Syrian soil during Trump’s second term in office.
In April 2026, US forces began withdrawing from Syria.Image: keystone
In December 2025, a Syrian linked to IS attacked a US base near the city of Palmyra. Two American soldiers were killed. As a result, US forces operated under the code name Operation Hawkeye Strike With support from Jordan, a wave of at least 100 attacks against IS targets in Syria.
A second wave of attacks followed in January 2026, which again hit 35 IS targets. By mid-February, 15 more attacks followed.
Iran
In June 2025, US Air Force and Navy forces attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities. Sometimes they joined Operation Midnight Spear seven of the infamous B-2 stealth bombers were deployed.
There has been war between the USA and Iran since February 2026. After a first violent wave of attacks by the USA and Israel, in which the supreme Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed, both sides are sometimes shooting at each other more, sometimes less.
A bridge in southern Iran destroyed by US air strikes.Image: keystone
While the US forces at the Operation Epic Fury Initially attacking military targets and now also infrastructure such as bridges and power plants, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards primarily target American bases in the Gulf states and occasionally cargo ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz. So far, 18 US soldiers have died in the Iran war.
The ongoing conflict has consequences for the entire world: oil prices are characterized by great volatility, depending on the current situation in the Middle East. There is currently no prospect of an end to the war: several ceasefires and a peace treaty ultimately did not lead to an end to the conflict.
Iraq
As part of the Iran war, the USA also attacked targets in Iraq at the end of February. Together with Israel, US forces targeted several Iran-backed Shia militias.
Members of a Kurdish militia fighting against Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq.Image: keystone
According to the militias, around 80 combatants were killed in the drone and air strikes, including several high-ranking officers.
Nigeria
From December 2025 to early July 2026, US forces carried out air strikes against targets in northern Nigeria. Islamist militias such as Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State’s West Africa Province) as well as other violent groups in the region were targeted.
Boko Haram and rival Islamist groups have operated in Nigeria for over a decade. In November 2025, terrorists kidnapped over 300 children and twelve teachers from a Catholic school in the north of the country. US President Donald Trump then threatened the Nigerian government that the US would soon invade “with weapons drawn” to wipe out the “Islamic terrorists”. He had instructed War Minister Hegseth to draw up appropriate plans.
The abductees were freed in June.Image: keystone
According to the Nigerian government, at least 175 Boko Haram and ISWAP militiamen were killed in the subsequent airstrikes, including ISWAP leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki. At the beginning of July, the US regional command announced that it had withdrawn all military personnel (except intelligence assets) from the region.
Venezuela
Donald Trump’s Venezuela intervention with the code name Operation Absolute Resolve at the beginning of the year was politically risky, but militarily a complete success. After a long period of threats against the long-standing Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Maduro, American intervention finally followed on January 3, 2026.
In a coordinated operation, military infrastructure, including bases, airfields, communications facilities and ports, was attacked with airstrikes overnight. Meanwhile, special forces suddenly infiltrated Maduro’s residence in the middle of the capital Caracas and kidnapped the ruler and his wife.
Maduro on the USS Iwo Jima, shortly after his arrest.Image: www.imago-images.de
24 Venezuelan and 32 Cuban soldiers who were stationed in Venezuela died in the action. Seven US soldiers were injured; two civilians lost their lives. The deported Nicolas Maduro is scheduled to be tried in the USA on June 1, 2027. The accusation: The 63-year-old is said to have used his office as president and previous positions in the government for years to enable the smuggling of thousands of tons of cocaine into the USA.
The indictment also states that he sold diplomatic passports to drug traffickers, facilitated diplomatically disguised flights for drug money and protected drug transports. To achieve this, Maduro is said to have joined forces with drug traffickers and derived personal benefits from this.