During his first term, President Trump sharply criticized the wars launched by his predecessors as a waste of American resources, and he promised not to get involved in any long military entanglements.

“Great nations do not fight endless wars,” Mr. Trump said in 2019 during his State of the Union speech.

As he campaigned for a second term, Mr. Trump even described himself as “the candidate of peace.”

But the reality has been quite different.

Since Mr. Trump’s return to office, the United States has been involved in nearly a dozen military operations around the world, including the conflict against Iran and a raid that resulted in the arrest of Venezuela’s president.

On Feb. 1, 2025, soon after his inauguration, Mr. Trump ordered a series of airstrikes targeting Islamic State operatives and recruits in northern Somalia. His administration hailed it as the beginning of ramped-up counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa.

In 2025, the U.S. military conducted more than 100 strikes against ISIS and Al Shabab, an extremist group affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Current situation: The United States has continued to strike the groups this year.

March 2025

Iraq

In a joint operation on March 13, 2025, the United States and Iraq killed a senior Islamic State leader believed to be the head of the group in Iraq and Syria.

Current situation: The Islamic State still operates in Iraq but has not controlled territory for several years.

March 2025

Yemen

In March 2025, the U.S. military began Operation Rough Rider against the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen.

The U.S. strikes burned through weapons and munitions at a rate of about $1 billion in the first month alone. The Houthis shot down several American MQ-9 Reaper drones and continued to fire at naval ships in the Red Sea, including an American aircraft carrier.

Then two $67 million F/A-18 Super Hornets from America’s flagship aircraft carrier tasked with conducting strikes against the Houthis accidentally tumbled off the carrier into the sea.

On May 5, 2025, the White House ordered U.S. Central Command to “pause” offensive operations. Mr. Trump said he had reached an agreement with the Houthis.

“We hit them very hard and they had a great ability to withstand punishment,” Mr. Trump said. “You could say there was a lot of bravery there.” He added that “they gave us their word that they wouldn’t be shooting at ships anymore, and we honor that.”

Current situation: The Houthis have attacked fewer ships transiting the Red Sea, but many commercial vessels continue to steer clear.

June 2025

Iran

After several days of Israeli strikes on Iran, Mr. Trump launched Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22, deploying B-2 stealth bombers to drop bunker-buster bombs on the nuclear facilities Fordo and Natanz, while a submarine launched strikes at the nuclear facility at Isfahan.

Mr. Trump said the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.

Current situation: The Trump administration and Iran remain locked in a dispute over Iran’s refusal to give up its nuclear program.

September 2025

Venezuela

On Sept. 2, the U.S. military began attacking boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific that the Trump administration says were smuggling drugs.

So far 59 boats have been bombed, killing more than 200 people. Legal specialists say the strikes are illegal extrajudicial killings.

Current situation: The Trump administration has not provided evidence that the boats that have been attacked were involved in drug smuggling. But the strikes continue.

The United States carried out major airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria on Dec. 19 to avenge the deaths of two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter killed in an ISIS attack a week earlier.

American fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery fired more than 100 munitions at over 70 suspected Islamic State targets across central Syria. The Pentagon said Jordanian warplanes assisted in the operation.

The next month, in January, the U.S. military launched additional attacks on ISIS targets in Syria.

Current situation: The United States completed a handover of its major military bases in Syria in April, winding down a more than decade-long presence in the country. U.S. military officials say American troops will train, advise and assist some Syrian security forces in combating ISIS, as the U.S. relationship with Syria changes after the ouster of the country’s longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad, in late 2024.

On Christmas Day 2025, the United States launched strikes in northwestern Nigeria against Islamic State militants, who Mr. Trump asserted had been slaughtering Christians.

Nigerian officials and military experts say the Islamic State in Nigeria has killed thousands of Muslims as well.

Current situation: This fight continues.

January 2026

Venezuela

On Jan. 3, U.S. Special Operations troops launched a raid in Venezuela’s capital targeting President Nicolás Maduro. They killed dozens of Mr. Maduro’s guards and extracted the Venezuelan leader and his wife, transporting them to New York to face charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.

Both pleaded not guilty.

Current situation: The trial is months, possibly years, away. Mr. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, is now president.

On Feb. 28, U.S. and Israeli forces launched a new war against Iran that has killed hundreds of people (Iran says more than 2,000), including many high-ranking Iranian officials, the country’s supreme leader and 13 U.S. troops.

The war, which the Pentagon calls Operation Epic Fury, has shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, sending gas prices around the world soaring.

Iran retaliated by launching drones and ballistic missiles at Israel and at U.S. allies and American bases in the Middle East, setting off a regional conflict.

Current situation: Mr. Trump declared a cease-fire in April, launching sporadic negotiations. The United States is enforcing a naval blockade to prevent Iran from getting its oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, while the threat of Iranian fire has shuttered commercial shipping through the narrow waterway.

In recent days, the two sides have exchanged strikes, threatening the fragile truce.

May 2026

Nigeria

This month, Mr. Trump authorized a joint U.S.-Nigerian commando raid that killed Abu Bilal al-Minuki, a high-ranking ISIS leader. Days later, the United States launched airstrikes targeting ISIS fighters in the country.

Current situation: Scores of militants have been killed in the recent military actions, according to U.S. and Nigerian estimates. The New York Times could not verify whether civilians were among the dead.

May 2026

Cuba

The aircraft carrier Nimitz and its escort warships arrived in the southern Caribbean Sea this month, on the same day the Justice Department announced charges against Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former president.

Current situation: Keep an eye out.