Axios: Presented by Meta By Mike Allen … Trump’s lethal presidency

Posted on March 2, 2026 by michelleclarke2015

PRESENTED BY META
 
Axios AM
By Mike Allen · Mar 02, 2026
☕ Good Monday morning. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,408 words … 5½ mins. Thanks to Noah Bressner for orchestrating. Edited by Andrew Pantazi and Bill Kole.
 
 
1 big thing: Trump’s lethal presidency
 
A bar chart showing U.S. airstrikes from January 2020 through February 12, 2026, by presidency. The data shows a notable spike in strikes during the Trump administration, particularly in Yemen and Afghanistan. The Biden administration shows significantly fewer airstrikes overall, with some increases in 2024. The number of strikes dramatically increases in 2025 as Trump takes office again, nearing 300 in the month of March 2025.Data: ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data). Chart: Axios Visuals (“Other” includes Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela — as well as the waters off Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.)

No president in the modern era has ordered more military strikes against as many countries as Donald Trump, Axios’ Zachary Basu writes. He has attacked seven nations, three of which — Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela — had never been targeted by U.S. military strikes. He authorized more airstrikes in 2025 than President Biden did in four years.

Why it matters: Trump ran as an anti-war candidate. The White House argues he still is — that he exhausts diplomacy before acting, and that projecting overwhelming force is itself a path to lasting peace. The deaths of three U.S. service members in the first 24 hours of Trump’s Iran strikes puts that argument to its most brutal test. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is,” Trump said in a video statement yesterday. “But we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case,” he added, vowing to “avenge their deaths.”🖼️ The big picture: Trump’s strikes are historically distinctive not just in number but in kind.President Bush’s post-9/11 campaigns and President Obama’s drone wars were massive in scale — but concentrated in inherited or congressionally authorized theaters. Alongside traditional counterterrorism efforts, Trump has opened new fronts — a Christmas Day strike in Nigeria, drug boats sunk in the Caribbean, Nicolás Maduro snatched from Caracas. His preferred model is consistent: no boots on the ground, no lengthy entanglements, overwhelming force applied quickly and framed as essential to defending American interests.

Zoom in: The ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran now stands in a league of its own — the most aggressive, high-risk foreign policy act of Trump’s presidency.

Trump launched Operation Epic Fury — a joint U.S.–Israeli campaign explicitly aimed at toppling Iran’s government — without congressional authorization or sustained public debate.

It was preceded by the largest U.S. military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq — a warning to Iran that failed talks in Geneva would have consequences.An F/A-18E Super Hornet returns to the USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday. Photo: U.S. Navy🔭 

Zoom out: Trump outlined multiple targets for an operation he said could last four weeks: destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles, its rocket factories and its navy.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was assassinated by Israeli strikes in the first 24 hours, along with dozens of senior regime officials.

U.S. and Israeli strikes show no sign of letting up, as Iran’s retaliatory missiles and drones batter Gulf allies.

Back home, some of Trump’s most loyal supporters are struggling to square this war with the candidate they elected.

Several MAGA influencers resurfaced a warning last June from the late activist Charlie Kirk, who called regime change in Iran “insane” and predicted it would result in “a bloody civil war.”

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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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