Donald Trump delivers remarks after accepting the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, December 5, 2025, during the World Cup draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Photo by Daniel Torok/White House/Wikimedia Commons.

In recent months, Donald Trump has clearly demonstrated his great readiness to unleash state violence and, as a sitting US president, he has an enormous capacity to do just that. On the face of it, it would seem unlikely that the Trump name would in any way be associated with the pursuit of peace but, strangely enough, he cherishes the idea, to an almost obsessive degree, that he may be remembered in such terms.

The dust has barely settled on Trump’s assault on Venezuela, which was an unassailably violent affair. According to CNBC, “[s]pecial operations forces from multiple service branches and more than 150 military aircraft” were involved in the attack. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello reported that over 100 people were killed by the display of US power.

This intervention involved the forcible abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also a major political figure in Venezuela. It was preceded by a series of extrajudicial killings and the Trump administration is quite clear that further attacks will be mounted if the Venezuelan authorities don’t accept US control of the country’s oil industry and comply with other demands. Al Jazeera reports that Trump is keeping US ships at the ready for another assault in order to emphasize the need for submission.

At the same time, it is very clear that the Venezuelan operation was not some uncharacteristic outburst on Trump’s part. Politico informs us that he has also threatened aggressive action against Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico and that “the threats of military force against—and the broadly more muscular posture towards—Latin America speak to how the administration is prioritizing the region and willing to use all the tools at its disposal to achieve its aims close to home.”

A violent application of an updated Monroe Doctrine is undeniably underway, and Trump’s commitment to peace in other parts of the globe is also highly questionable. The ceasefire he boasts of in Gaza has involved a great deal of bloodshed since it went into effect. Al Jazeera

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