Trump's "Three Kingdoms Kill": Why are Venezuela, Syria, and Iran being systematically "purged" one by one?

On March 1, 2026, the Strait of Hormuz was choked with thick smoke. Just 24 hours earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei was confirmed dead in a joint US-Israeli airstrike— the second national leader to experience “regime change,” after Venezuelan President Maduro was seized by US forces in a raid on January 3.

With only 14 months gone in Trump’s second term, America’s diplomatic toolbox has shifted from “bluster deterrence” to a composite model of military raids + economic strangulation + resource plundering. This is not a traditional war; it is a global lightning campaign aimed at oil and shipping routes.

1. Night in Caracas: A “new Monroe Doctrine” experiment for the Western Hemisphere

● In the early hours of January 3, 2026, the night sky over Caracas was torn apart by explosions. The US special forces were not carrying out a conventional decapitation mission; they were executing a 21st-century “colonial-style raid”—after taking control of President Maduro, they transported him directly to the United States.

● The subsequent developments exposed Washington’s true intentions. In his State of the Union address, Trump smugly announced that the US had received more than 80 million barrels of oil from this “new friend.” Energy Minister Chris Wright further revealed that US companies such as Chevron have pledged to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to repair Venezuela’s oilfield facilities, while Venezuela’s current leader, Delcy Rodríguez, is “completely dependent on the cash flow of the US government.”

● This is no longer simple sanctions—it is direct state custody of national resources. Even the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bergum, said outright that the next wave of US investment would target 60 key minerals in Venezuela to build “strategic mineral reserves” that do not rely on taxpayers. Although Caracas maintains a veneer of autonomy, the lifeblood of its economy has been firmly locked inside Washington’s vault.

2. Damascus upheaval: From the “isolated” to the “invested”

● While US forces moved against Caracas, Syria was undergoing a quieter but equally profound transformation. In June 2025, Trump signed an executive order to fully lift sanctions on Syria and suspend the Caesar Act, and the EU quickly followed suit.

● This was not for humanitarian reasons. A UK Parliament research briefing pointed out that the US’s list of demands for Syria’s new leadership plainly reveals its geopolitical aims: joining the Abraham Accords, expelling foreign terrorists, and helping the US prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State. Syria therefore rapidly shifted from the “isolated” to the “invested,” becoming a key piece in the US dismantling of Iran’s “Resistance Arc.”

● The US even began pressuring the Supreme Court to end temporary protected status for about 6,000 Syrians, arguing that the Assad regime has fallen and that Syrians “should go home.” This operation—carrying out sanctions relief in tandem with deporting refugees—laid bare the deal’s ruthless coldness.

3. Tehran’s “Midnight Hammer”: The deadliest airstrike in 40 years

● If Venezuela is resource plunder and Syria is a card exchanged externally, then Iran is a full military showdown.

● On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched “Operation Lion’s Roar.” This is not a simple repeat of the June 2025 “Midnight Hammer.” Back then, US forces only bombed nuclear facilities; this time, the target was to completely destroy Iran’s command and control system. According to China National Radio, the attack resulted in more than 200 deaths in Iran, including 150 children from a primary school.

● Even more symbolically, Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed in the strike. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there are “more and more signs” showing that he is “no longer among the living,” while Trump directly announced that he is “dead.” In response, Iran declared the closure of the Strait of Hormuz—the choke point for 20% of global oil shipments. International oil prices jumped immediately, and global supply chains faced another round of disruption.

4. “Trumpian deal-making”: Why these three countries?

From Caracas, to Damascus, to Tehran, the three battle lines appear scattered, but in fact they follow one unified underlying logic: low cost, high returns, and speed.

● Experts from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations analysis pointed out that in Trump’s second term, diplomacy takes a clear-cut form of “selective restraint”—cautious toward major powers such as China and Russia, but striking boldly at targets like Iran and Venezuela, where the promise is “low-cost demonstrations of strength.” These three countries happen to meet three conditions: they possess energy or minerals the US urgently needs; their geography is strategically crucial (oil shipping routes); and there are internal contradictions or periods of weakness that can be exploited.

● Trump frames it as a peace achievement in his State of the Union address, but the reality is that the US is converting its military presence into commercial contracts at an unprecedented speed. As Phoenix Net quotes experts as saying, “The way Trump handled Venezuela gave him confidence—he found that he could threaten other countries at will through the machinery of the state.”

5. From the “anti-war president” to a “war CEO”: The collapse and rebuilding of an image

● The most ironic thing is the data comparison. News statistics show that in less than a year of Trump’s second term, the US military has carried out military strikes in 7 countries, with airstrikes exceeding 600 times—matching Obama’s entire 8-year tenure. The Trump who once pledged to “avoid meaningless wars” now gladly accepts the Nobel Peace Prize medal “gifted” by the Venezuelan opposition.

● This shift comes from Trump redefining presidential power. He treats the White House like a corporate headquarters, and foreign policy like a merger-and-acquisition deal. Secretary of State Rubio has publicly said he is holding “high-level” talks with Cuba, and Trump has even floated the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba. Who will be next? Experts point to this Caribbean country—after all, it also has the resources and strategic positioning the US needs.

6. The new jungle law: How long can the international order hold?

● Trump’s actions are reshaping the bottom line of international interaction. UN Secretary-General Guterres urgently condemned the escalation of military conflict, French President Macron warned that it would have serious consequences for international peace, and Turkish President Erdoğan said he was “deeply saddened.”

● But condemnation cannot stop the Strait of Hormuz from being closed, nor can it bring dead children back to life. The deeper impact is that the US is normalizing “regime change.” If a major power can arbitrarily seize another country’s president and carry out airstrikes against its top leader, then the international order built after World War II on sovereign equality will roll back to the 19th-century “jungle law.”

● Xinhua News Agency said in a published article that the Trump administration no longer sees itself as a provider of international public goods, but has fully turned multilateral mechanisms into tools. When the rule-makers begin trampling on the rules, the remaining countries are left with only two choices: submit to might, or accelerate their own armament.

● Venezuela’s oil keeps flowing to US refineries, Syria’s reconstruction contracts are being carved up by Gulf states, and bombs continue to fall on Iran’s night sky. This lightning campaign spanning three continents shows that the true targets have never been “democracy” or “counter-terrorism,” but control over resources and dominance over shipping routes. Trump’s 108-minute State of the Union address and countless midnight raids tell the world: in this new era, there are no fence-sitters—only gas stations.