As a Christmas present to his evangelical base, Donald Trump ordered military strikes against an Islamic State offshoot in Nigeria on December 25. On a day usually reserved for celebrations of the birth of a man who urged his followers to “turn the other cheek,” Christian lawmakers like Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AK), and Ted Budd (R-NC) all celebrated the death of what Cotton called “bloodthirsty savages.”

As a New Year’s present to himself, Trump dispatched a SEAL team to kidnap Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and deposit him in a New York jail. Trump was personally invested in humbling a leader that had refused to kowtow in the face of American power. Trump was reportedly infuriated that the Venezuelan leader was literally dancing just out of reach.

The operation to capture Maduro was itself an audacious attempt at semi-regime change. Maduro was extracted, but the rest of his government was left in place. After claiming that the United States would rule a country still in the hands of Maduro’s colleagues, the president left it to other members of his administration to resolve the obvious contradiction.

Maduro is facing trial, Trump is facing questions, and a number of other countries are facing the threat that they will be next on the U.S. president’s to-do list for 2026. The raid itself was a surprise. But what else did people expect when U.S. voters put a vengeful felon back in the White House?

Over the last year, pundits on both sides of the political spectrum have argued over whether Donald Trump is a peace president or a war president. The interventions in Nigeria and Venezuela have served to ramp up the debate.

The president himself, as part of his bid to win a Nobel Peace Prize, has claimed to bring peace to a number of conflicts around the world. At the same time, prior to Nigeria and Venezuela, he launched strikes against Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Syria. He has pushed for the first trillion-dollar military budget and changed the Department of Defense to the Department of War. He has threatened Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland, and casually mentioned the annexation of Canada. He has continued to supply American weapons to a variety of rights-abusing nations including Israel, Egypt, and Saudi........

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