Trump’s military invaded the Caribbean and went to Iran in a self-defense campaign

In a little more than a year, the United States has carried out a series of airstrikes on Caribbean vessels tied to suspected drug trafficking networks, launched ongoing operations against Houthi militias in the Red Sea, kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities and is now launching an expanded military campaign aimed at destroying and destroying Tehran’s infrastructure.

The tempo marks one of the strongest projections of American power in recent years, from Latin America, the Middle East and important sea lanes.

For Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, it also represents an incredible opportunity.

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Just before the 2024 presidential election, he described himself as a “recovering neocon,” expressing regret for his support for the Iraq-era intervention and warning of endless wars.

Several commentators have argued that the defining characteristic of management style may be less about the flexibility of ideas and more about alignment and practice.

“Unlike Trump alone, everyone in Trump’s cabinet now — Hegseth, Rubio, etc. — understands that the president is the boss,” said Matthew Kroenig, a defense strategist at the Atlantic Council. “In Trump 1.0 you had Cabinet officials who thought their job was to save the Republic from Trump, the so-called adults in the room. And so I think it’s clear that the president wanted to go this way, and I think Hegseth sees himself as supporting the president’s view.”

‘Certification of… leadership’

That association coincided with a pattern of risk-taking.

Many of the administration’s most significant military initiatives, from Venezuela to the Houthis to the current campaign against Iran, have the potential to escalate.

Some strategists say the absence of an early setback to that intervention may have strengthened the administration’s willingness to step up in the Iranian theater.

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“I’m not sure I would advise you on this,” Kroenig said of the Iran operation. “It’s very risky, but it’s going well so far.”

Iranian missile launches have decreased in capacity. The regional partners do not break the standards. Whether that constitutes strategic success, however, depends on the metric.

Justin Fulcher, a former Pentagon adviser to Hegseth, said the early stages of the campaign show what he described as “a return to strategic clarity.”

“The ban is only credible when our allies believe that if President Trump says something, we will support it,” Fulcher said. “This is an endorsement of Secretary Hegseth and President Trump’s leadership.”

“A ban is only credible if our allies believe that if President Trump says something, we’re going to back it up,” said former Pentagon adviser Justin Fulcher. “This is an endorsement of Secretary Hegseth and President Trump’s leadership.” (Kevin Wolf, File/The Associated Press)

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Hegseth, a former Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the current campaign is nothing like those conflicts.

“This is not Iraq. This is not over. I was there for both,” Hegseth said at a press conference in early March. “Our generation knows better and so does this president.”

In a separate interview, he added, “This is not the reform of Iranian society from the American point of view. We tried that. The American people rejected that.”

Danielle Pletka, a senior executive at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, said the campaign has largely gone as expected.

“I think things went well,” Pletka said, pointing to damaged air defenses and what he described as Iran’s miscalculation. “Everything they did drove everyone crazy, and that was a very bad statistic for them.”

At the same time, he cautioned against interpreting the administration’s actions as part of a fixed doctrine.

“I don’t think it’s a doctrine,” Pletka said. “I think this is ad hoc.”

Some longtime Trump supporters say the current conflict is not what they expected from Trump, who campaigned on ending wars and “America First.”

“It feels like the worst betrayal at this time because it’s coming from a person and a manager we all believed was different and we can’t be anymore,” wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on X. “Instead, we get a war with Iran on behalf of Israel that will succeed in ruling Iran. Another foreign war for foreign peoples for foreign regime change. Why?”

In Pletka’s view, the president has shown how to try diplomacy first and switch to coercion only when he ends up in futile negotiations. He says that standing separates the present from past interventions.

He also emphasized that most of the operational bills are for trained soldiers.

“Planning this thanks to the US military and the commander of CENTCOM and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” he said.

That difference complicates attempts to relate the current position to Hegseth’s personal worldview. Although the secretary of defense has become the public face of the administration’s deterrence messages, the execution of high-level campaigns depends largely on the military leadership.

Some critics say the administration should not clearly state the nature of the end of the Iran campaign.

“Pete Hegseth needs to ask his boss what the intent is,” former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN. “How does Hegseth explain that we have already changed the regime, which was not our intention? I think the top leadership of the Pentagon, the top leadership of the community, needs some adjustment. I think the military is doing well, but I wonder about the leadership of the community.”

The White House has pushed back strongly on criticism of the campaign.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said Monday that Hegseth is “doing an incredible job leading the Department of Defense,” pointing to what she described as the “continued success of Operation Epic Fury” and other services.

Kelly said that Iranian retaliatory attacks “have dropped by 90 percent because the Department of Defense is destroying Iran’s missile capabilities,” and added that Hegseth is working “close to President Trump every day” to ensure that the U.S. military “continues to be the largest, most powerful fighter in the world.”

The Pentagon has emphasized that assessment.

“Operation Epic Fury continues with success and precision,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, describing the “strong, comprehensive campaign” aimed at “the complete dismantling of Iran’s terrorist network or its unconditional surrender.”

Others see this period in broader historical terms.

Peter Doran, a foreign policy analyst, described the campaign as an effort that could “end the 47-year war” waged by the Islamic Republic against the United States, but on Washington’s terms.

US Central Command released a video showing strikes on Iran’s mobile missile launchers. (@CENTCOM via X)

“This is a clear attempt to end the 47-year war Iran has been waging with the United States,” Doran said.

He pointed out that visible US military operations could extend beyond the Middle East, particularly to Beijing.

“They look good,” Doran said of the US military. “That will serve, I hope, as a disincentive to adventurism.”

If the operation ultimately succeeds in degrading Iran’s military infrastructure, Doran said, it could reshape the Middle East and expand opportunities for diplomatic ties like the Arab-Israeli one.

“It’s changing everything in the Middle East,” he said.

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Yet even proponents admit that the long-term results remain uncertain. In Venezuela, Maduro’s removal marked a major shift in US policy, but the governing apparatus he built remains intact. Stockpiles of destabilizing missiles and drone infrastructure in Iran may buy time, but whether they produce lasting deterrence or merely delay re-establishment remains to be seen.

In the meantime, the administration’s willingness to take calculated risks and its ability to avoid escalation have bolstered the perception of America’s restored confidence. Whether that assertion translates into lasting strategic gains will likely define Hegseth’s tenure more than the speech that preceded it.

Hegseth and the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment.