President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the United States had attacked Islamic State (ISIS) targets in northwest Nigeria. He justified the strikes by saying that the Christian community is under threat in Africa’s most populous country.
Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social. “Tonight, under my authority as Commander-in-Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” he posted. “I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”
The U.S. president did not provide further details about the military operation. For weeks, Trump and his allies have been drawing attention, with exaggerations and half-truths, to the situation of Christians, who represent 45% of the population (compared to 53% Muslims) in Nigeria.
Collaboration
A Defense Department official told The New York Times on Thursday that the Pentagon collaborated with the Nigerian government to carry out the strikes, and that these had Nigeria’s approval.
In early November, Trump had posted a warning on his social media platform: “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!” The post appeared to endorse the narrative championed by certain religious and conservative lobbying groups in the United States who have been claiming for years that a “Christian genocide” is taking place in Nigeria. One of the main proponents of this narrative is Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who has stated that, since 2009, 50,000 Christians have been murdered in the African country and that 18,000 churches have been burned down.
For two decades, Nigeria has faced escalating violence perpetrated by armed groups, including terrorists and criminal gangs, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 3.5 million people from their homes. Between May 2023 and May 2025 alone, more than 10,000 people were killed, according to Amnesty International. The Nigerian government states that the victims included both Christians and Muslims.
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