Trump Has Threatened to Attack One Out of Every 13 Countries in the World

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump enthusiastically portrayed his opponents as interventionists willing to lead the United States into all kinds of wars abroad, even World War III. As president, Trump has amassed a striking list of countries he has threatened to attack or actually attacked.

Trump added a new name to that list this Wednesday by threatening to attack Oman if it attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz alongside Iran.

"Oman will behave just like everyone else, or we'll have to bomb them," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. It was particularly striking because he said it in passing, as a casual comment apparently made without much thought. And that has become quite typical of Trump.

Oman is at least the fifteenth country he has threatened to attack, left open the possibility of attacking, or actually attacked during his two terms as president. Nearly all of these incidents occurred in the first 16 months of his second term, although some span both terms.

So far in this term, he has launched attacks in seven countries —Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen— after having also attacked some of them in his first term. That does not even include attacks on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, which have targeted nearly 60 boats and left more than 190 dead.

Additionally, he has threatened or left open the possibility of attacking seven other countries during this term: Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland —which is part of Denmark— Mexico, Panama, and now Oman. He also threatened Mexico and North Korea in his first term.

Not all of those threats and attacks are equal. Some, like the attacks in Iraq, were limited actions targeting terrorists and not the sitting government. And some threats were less direct: in many cases, Trump simply refused to rule out the possibility.

Part of this can be explained by Trump's adoption of the "madman theory" in foreign policy. In other words, he likes to present himself as unpredictable because he believes that makes foreign adversaries more likely to yield to his demands.

Nevertheless, all of this reflects a remarkably bellicose attitude from a president who has already invaded two countries this year —Iran and Venezuela— and appears to be considering a third: Cuba.

And the data shows how aggressive Trump's posture has been. Here are some figures.

One out of every 13 countries

That is the proportion of countries Trump has threatened or attacked so far: 15 out of the nearly 200 countries in the world.

One out of every 11 people

Those countries are home to one out of every 11 people on the planet. That means one out of every 11 people in the world has been at least somewhat worried about the possibility of Trump launching a military attack against their country.

Five countries in the Middle East

Trump has already threatened or attacked five countries in the Middle East alone. That amounts to five of the fewer than 20 countries in the entire region.

Three continents

Trump's threats and attacks have reached countries on three of the world's five populated continents: Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Technically, he has also threatened a European country, Denmark, although it was in the context of seizing its territory in the Americas.

Five potential territorial expansion targets

Of the 15 countries he has attacked or threatened, he has pointed to five as potential additions to the United States: Canada, Cuba, Greenland, Panama —specifically the Panama Canal— and Venezuela.