Trump threatens military action against Nigeria over alleged Christian killings

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy American troops to Nigeria, accusing the West African nation of permitting the mass killing of Christians by Islamist militants.

In a fiery social media post on Friday, Trump claimed that “Radical Islamists” in Nigeria were responsible for the “mass slaughter” of Christians, alleging that the Nigerian government had failed to act.

“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, guns-a-blazing, to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists,” Trump wrote.

He added that he had instructed the Pentagon to prepare for potential action, warning that any U.S. strike would be “fast, vicious, and sweet.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth backed the president’s comments, posting, “Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

Trump’s remarks, which come amid increasing rhetoric from American conservatives about religious persecution in Nigeria, were made without presenting any supporting evidence.

In recent months, several U.S. politicians, including Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Riley Moore, have accused Nigeria’s government of ignoring attacks on Christians. Trump also announced that Nigeria had been designated a “Country of Particular Concern” over what he described as an “existential threat” to Christians.

However, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu dismissed the allegations, insisting that the country upholds religious freedom.

“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” Tinubu said on Saturday. “Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so.”

Nigeria, which is evenly split between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south, continues to grapple with multiple security crises. Experts say the conflicts—ranging from Boko Haram’s insurgency in the northeast to herder-farmer clashes in the central region—have claimed lives on both sides without clear religious distinction.

According to the United Nations, the Boko Haram conflict alone has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced over two million since 2009.