Despite assurances that he aims to be a president of global peace, President Donald Trump has overseen more airstrikes during his first five months in office than any other president.
Trump has personally authorized a total of 529 airstrikes, according to data gathered by The Telegraph. That’s nearly as many strikes as former President Joe Biden OK’d over his entire term.
“The U.S. military is moving faster, hitting harder and doing so with fewer constraints,” said Clionadh Raleigh, president and chief executive officer of Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, in an interview with the outlet.
Trump’s strikes have focused on anti-piracy actions in Yemen and uranium facilities in Iran, but also include targets in Iraq, Syria, and Somalia. According to the report, Yemen has been subjected to 470 strikes since January.
In June, Trump followed Israel’s lead and authorized strikes on Iran. The controversial airstrikes targeted numerous nuclear facilities within the country in the hopes of hindering the country’s development of a nuclear bomb. While the official line from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called the operation a “bold and brilliant” success, a leaked report from the Pentagon cast doubt on the effectiveness of the strikes.
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The record-number of strikes are in stark contrast to Trump’s previous statements about foreign conflict and intervention. In January, Trump promised a policy of “peace through strength.”
“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. It’s called peace through strength,” Trump said at his inaugural ball.
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