Trump says he ordered air strikes on Islamic State group in Somalia

Trump in his statement on Saturday also took a swipe at the former administration, stating the US military had targeted this particular IS planner for years, but accused Joe Biden “and his cronies” of not acting quickly enough “to get the job done. I did!”

US forces killed IS leader, Bilal al-Sudani, and 10 of his operatives in a remote mountainous cave in northern Somalia in 2023, in an operation ordered by Biden.

One of the last actions Trump took when he left the White House in 2020 was to pull hundreds of US troops out of Somalia. He has now ordered the first attacks on the nation less than two weeks after his return.

Trump maintains he does not want the US involved in other countries’ conflicts, while Biden had wanted to wind down America’s involvement in post 9/11 conflicts.

But Somalia is seen differently by Washington. The US has invested massively in the country for decades, to contain the threat posed by al-Shabab.

Trump ordered strikes in his first term, despite pulling troops out in the eleventh hour of his presidency. Biden reversed that decision when he took over in 2021 in order to keep a continuous US presence. So far in his second term, Trump has kept troops there.

But it is likely he may eventually take a different approach, not just on Somalia but the African continent as a whole. His former defence secretary, Mark Esper, said in his memoir that Trump “didn’t see much value” in having any Americans – military personnel or diplomats – anywhere on the continent.

This may be more so the case with Somalia where al-Shabab are seemingly growing more resilient, and the US may decide it is not worth it.

Trump 1.0 saw him de-prioritising US outreach to Africa – he hosted two Sub-Saharan African leaders but never visited the continent.

Trump 2.0 will likely view Africa through a competitive lens, due to US adversaries Russia and China hugely expanding their trade influence on the continent.