The Trump Presidency Timeline

Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Mar-a-Lago to brief Donald Trump on fresh options for bombing Iran, because nothing says responsible statecraft like planning new airstrikes at a golf resort that also sells wedding packages. Israel wants Trump to sign off on, assist with, or just outright own another round of attacks on Iran’s ballistic missile program and air defenses, on top of June’s U.S.-led Operation Midnight Hammer — the one Trump insists "totally obliterated" Iran’s nuclear capabilities while U.S. assessments quietly say, "lol, not quite."

While Tehran is publicly floating the idea of resuming talks, Trump is privately being handed a familiar four-course war menu: Israel goes solo, Israel with U.S. backup, joint strikes, or the full "America does it all" special. At the same time, he’s considering military strikes in Venezuela, boasting on TV that he’s "destroyed the Iran nuclear threat and ended the war in Gaza, bringing, for the first time in 3,000 years, peace to the Middle East" — which is a bold claim, especially for a region that is currently being managed via ceasefires, proxy wars, and PowerPoint target lists on the Oval Office coffee table.

The White House is still thumping its chest about bunker-busting Iran’s enrichment sites, Israel is demanding more action before Iran rebuilds its missile and air defense infrastructure, and Trump is threatening to "obliterate" anything Tehran reconstructs unless they come back to the table on his terms. In other words, U.S. foreign policy is now a protection racket: nice ballistic program you’re trying to rebuild there, shame if something happened to it. But sure, tell yourself this is about "regional stability" and not about a president auditioning for Strongman of the Year while dangling new wars over two continents.

Trump sat down with Kristen Welker and, in classic fashion, used the opportunity to threaten another foreign country, lie about health care, and mangle basic math on tariffs — so, you know, presidential.

First up, Venezuela: the guy who ran on ending forever wars now says he “doesn’t rule out” war with Caracas and has ordered a “blockade” on Venezuelan oil tankers. He won’t say if regime change is the goal, just that Nicolás Maduro “knows exactly what I want.” Because nothing says ‘peace president’ like openly dangling invasion while choking a foreign economy.

On health care, Trump claims his big national address already unveiled his master plan: just give people money and let them “buy their own health insurance” with various “health care accounts.” No details, no structure, no numbers — just vibes and buzzwords. He also insists he doesn’t need to repeal Obamacare because it will “repeal itself,” which is a bold new legal theory where laws vanish if Trump says they’re unpopular on TV.

Then there are tariffs, which Trump now declares will be “permanent” because they supposedly give the U.S. “great national security” and “tremendous wealth.” He even says they’ll pay for his new “warrior dividend” for service members. Tiny problem: a senior administration official and a Senate appropriations source say the money is actually coming from military housing funds, not tariff revenue. In other words, troops get a bonus while their barracks crumble, and the White House calls it a win — but sure, tell me more about how tariffs are writing the checks.

The US has launched large-scale airstrikes across central Syria, because nothing says "careful, measured response" like dropping a bunch of bombs in a country we never officially declared war on. Two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in Palmyra, and in true forever-war fashion, the answer is apparently more of the same: a bigger strike package, more targets, and still no coherent strategy beyond "hit back and hope it looks tough on TV".

According to anonymous officials (the only truly permanent branch of government at this point), the strikes hit "dozens" of Islamic State targets, as part of the ongoing US-led campaign that has somehow become a semi-permanent occupation without Congress ever bothering to do its job. In other words, the Trump administration is still running on the same dusty 2001 and 2002 AUMFs like they’re an all-you-can-bomb buffet, because why ask for updated authorization when you can just keep pretending the war on terror is a single, unending episode?

The US is now routinely coordinating with Syria’s own security forces in these operations, which is a fun little reminder that American foreign policy has fully entered the "everyone’s awful, but we brought the jets" phase. But sure, tell us again how this is all about "precision" and "deterrence" and not about a president flexing military power whenever he needs a ratings bump or a distraction from whatever scandal is currently on fire back home.

Trump ran on “no new wars” and is now racking up at least 26 boat strikes, nearly 100 dead, a double-tap strike under congressional scrutiny, the seizure of an oil tanker, and a "total and complete blockade" of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers — but don’t worry, it’s not a war, it’s just peace with explosives. The White House insists this is all about "narcoterrorism" and fulfilling campaign promises on drugs, because nothing says "America First" like turning the Caribbean into a live-fire zone to enforce an economic chokehold.

MAGA world, which supposedly hates foreign entanglements, is apparently fine with undeclared military campaigns so long as the targets are "drug boats" and the dead people aren’t American. As one friendly think tanker helpfully explains, you can run "wild and crazy foreign policies" as long as the costs stay low — meaning low for U.S. domestic politics, not for the civilians caught between sanctions, blockades, and missile strikes. The administration is dusting off the Monroe Doctrine, rebranding it as an anti-cartel crusade, and betting the base won’t notice that "ending forever wars" has quietly morphed into forever gunboat diplomacy.

The right is now having a very serious discussion about whether regime change in Venezuela would be a bridge too far, not because killing people and blockading a country might be wrong, but because it might finally pierce the illusion that Trump is some kind of anti-interventionist dove. For now, he gets to posture as both the tough Monroe Doctrine enforcer and the guy who "doesn’t want a protracted war" — a Schrödinger’s warmonger whose bombs are apparently exempt from the "no new wars" promise as long as they’re dropped in the name of fighting drugs.

Trump hopped on Truth Social to announce he is ordering a "TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE" of all sanctioned oil tankers going in and out of Venezuela, because nothing says sober, lawful diplomacy like waking up and unilaterally declaring a naval blockade on a whim. He helpfully labeled Nicolás Maduro's government a "foreign terrorist organisation" and accused it of "Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking"—in other words, he described a cartoon villain and then gave himself permission to launch what Congressman Joaquin Castro correctly pointed out is "unquestionably an act of war." But sure, it’s all just another post on the app where coups go to get beta-tested.

Trump bragged that Venezuela is now "completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America," which is both not how geography works and also a nice casual way of saying "we moved a giant floating airbase and thousands of troops into striking distance of a country we haven’t declared war on." The USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, is now parked off Venezuela like a foreclosure notice with fighter jets. Meanwhile, the US has already been killing people in "drug" strikes on boats and seizing tankers like the Skipper, which Maduro describes as Washington "kidnapping" the crew and "stealing" the ship—because nothing says defending freedom like high-seas asset repossession backed by an armada.

Both Trump and Biden have spent years trying to topple Maduro with sanctions, but Trump has now hit the big, shiny "naval blockade" button—historically known as the thing you do after Congress declares war, not before a House resolution telling you to knock it off. Washington insists it’s stopping "illicit oil shipping" and "drug terrorism"; Venezuela insists the US is after its oil. Given that we’ve surrounded one of the world’s largest proven reserves with warships while screaming about stolen assets, this is definitely about democracy and not at all about hydrocarbons, why do you ask?