Donald Trump returned to office vowing to be the peace president. Nearly a year later, he is embracing war on multiple fronts.

Trump today ordered large-scale military strikes in Venezuela and announced that leftist leader Nicolas Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.

The raid to kick off the new year comes after the US military on Christmas Day hit Nigeria, in what Trump said was an operation targeting jihadists who had attacked Christians.

And hours before the attack in Venezuela, Trump warned of another US intervention in a third region, saying US forces were “locked and loaded” if Iran’s clerical state kills protesters who have taken to the streets.

The enthusiasm for war would seem at odds for a president who has loudly declared that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for supposedly ending eight wars, a claim that is highly disputable.

In his second inaugural address on January 20 last year, Trump said: “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.”

But soon after, Trump rebranded the Defence Department as the “Department of War.”

Both Trump and his aides insist that military muscle is the path to real peace.

“We’re making peace through strength. That’s what we’re doing,” Trump told a rally last month in Pennsylvania.

“Peace through strength” was famously a catchphrase of Ronald Reagan, as he promoted a massive military build-up at the end of the Cold War, and was attributed to the Roman emperor Hadrian who built up defences.

But the strategy was generally understood as a way to prevent war from beginning.