July 23, 2026 — Mali: A Military Target or Is There Something Else?
Check out this week’s blog post by IP attorney, author Timothy Trainer, host of the podcast and video show Tim’s Travails • Follow Tim on Substack
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
No, really, no joke. Headlines on numerous news organizations’ homepages report that the U.S. is considering military action in another country: Trump administration weighs military options in Mali, officials say | The Washington Post. The Washington Post article characterizes the Mali government as a repressive military government. Maybe that’s what attracts our wannabe dictator to help those in power in Mali, as the article also states that we’ve increased our intel sharing with the repressive government.
Actually, the articles reporting on the possibility of military action aren’t all that clear as to the “why” except to say that there is “an al-Qaeda-linked group in Mali:” Trump considers military strikes in Mali — which would be the 8th country he’s attacked this term | The Independent.
Given the way this administration operates, it’s doubtful that it’s this simple. There are groups like al-Qaeda operating in many countries and we’re not bombing them … yet. We know how transactional this administration, specifically Trump, is.
It isn’t surprising that the U.S. (Trump) suddenly has an interest in Mali. One article highlights an interesting fact about Mali by underscoring that “Mali, one of the largest gold-producing nations in Africa”. Is that the attraction for Trump? His family? His friends? Is it pure speculation to think that Mali has something Trump and his family want. Or, what about some of the others in this administration who are finding that they can enrich themselves through government self-service?
Mali’s resources aren’t limited to gold. According to a May 2026 Al-Jazeera article, “Mali also has significant deposits of lithium, uranium, phosphates, iron ore, manganese and diamonds.” Mapping Mali’s gold and natural resource wealth | Interactive News | Al Jazeera. This short list of resources includes enough to attract attention given today’s competitive world and the U.S.’s need to find alternative sources for valuable natural resources that power many of today’s tech products.
The notion that the U.S./Trump would consider military action simply because of a terror group’s presence in a country seems unlikely. The terror group explanation might be the official government version to cover up the real reason: gold, lithium, uranium, etc. At this point, we, the people, should realize that basically all Trump actions and decisions are predicated upon getting something in return. What might Mali offer to the U.S. or Trump personally to encourage our military action?
Given the rising number of deaths on all sides in Iran, how many more military misadventures should we allow this one man to pursue? The Iran situation is concrete evidence of this administration’s inability to apply strategic analysis to possible actions that will be taken. This leaves us with only one thing to ask about what the administration might do: What’s in it for Trump?
About the Timothy Trainer: Writing books is a passion for attorney Timothy Trainer, who for more than three decades focused on intellectual property issues in his day job. He has worked in government agencies and in the private sector, and his assignments have taken him to 60 countries around the world.
Tim found time to pen a few non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2022. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff.
Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2019, Pendulum Over the Pacific, was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains.
In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection.
In 2025, he published the sequel, The China Factor, which ranked #63 on the Amazon Asian Literature list in May.
Click here to learn about all of Tim’s books.
