For better or worse, President Donald Trump is a chaos agent. His supporters credit his tornado-like style with uprooting our corrupt institutions. His detractors view it as destabilizing and dangerous.
For my money, they’re both right.
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But when it comes to the use of military might, Trump’s unpredictability is paired with precise timing and bold resolve, striking exactly the right chord. Our enemies never know what’s coming in Trump’s second term. But when it hits, it’s devastating.
Perhaps the best part? Trump’s swift strikes don’t involve prolonged conflicts, but rather serve to de-escalate tensions — on America’s terms.
Trump’s strike on a vessel from Venezuela carrying illegal narcotics is the latest example. The move prevented a ship full of dangerous drugs operated by notorious crime gang Tren de Aragua from docking on our shores. Crucially, it likely strengthened deterrence against the drug trafficking networks that prey on Americans. In 2020, U.S. estimates suggested that 200 to 250 metric tons of cocaine flowed through Venezuela annually, much of it laced with fentanyl.
Trump clarified his intent in a Truth Social post in the immediate aftermath:
“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action,” he wrote. “Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”
It’s impossible to overstate the power this message carries with the thousands of families who lose loved ones to illegal narcotics each year. The president promised to have their backs during the campaign, often repeating his desire to “declare war on the cartels,” and he is delivering on that promise expertly.
Some questioned Trump’s legal authority for the strike, to which Vice President JD Vance delivered a pitch-perfect response on a tarmac yesterday:
“There are people who are bringing literal terrorists, who are bringing deadly drugs into our country, and the President of the United States ran on a promise of stopping this poison from coming into our country,” he replied. “Another question?”
The Venezuela ship strike reflected Trump’s broader strategy of targeted, unpredictable military actions that neutralize threats while avoiding prolonged conflicts. Earlier this year, for instance, he ordered strikes against Houthi-controlled infrastructure in Yemen, significantly curbing their ability to attack Red Sea shipping. The attacks projected strength without sparking escalation — not a single U.S. soldier was lost.
But this strategy proved most successful during his June strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. The intervention crippled Tehran’s weapons program without sparking a broader war, a feat most military experts in the U.S. didn’t believe possible. Trump’s head-fake about deciding whether to strike the nuclear sites “within two weeks” gave Tehran false security. And when our boys in the sky delivered a crushing payload, it could hardly muster a meaningful response.
The result? Iran’s nuclear program was significantly disrupted, with a Pentagon assessment estimating the setback at up to two years.
Trump showed the world how to deal with the Iranian nuclear problem, long a headache for world leaders: with precise military action, strategic timing, and unflinching courage.
Trump is a living rebuke to the isolationists and neoconservatives who tend to dominate American foreign policy discourse. It is indeed possible, and highly preferable, to wield American might in a way that strengthens national security, advances long-term interests, and avoids sending our beloved soldiers into protracted wars.
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Trump’s brand of “peace through strength” is not just a slogan — it’s a functioning, successful strategy.
The last thing you could call it is chaotic.