Trump claims Christmas Day strikes on militant targets in Nigeria
President Donald Trump said he authorized multiple airstrikes on suspected militant positions in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day, according to a post he shared Thursday evening on Truth Social.
Trump described the operations as “powerful and deadly,” saying they targeted Islamic State-linked militants he accused of attacking and killing Christians in the country. He did not provide further information about the locations or results of the strikes.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted Trump’s statement on X, saying he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.”
Nigerian officials, along with analysts and scholars, have previously challenged Trump’s framing of the country’s security crisis, noting that extremist violence has affected Nigerians of all religious backgrounds, not only Christians.
The violence has continued across the country. On Wednesday night, an explosion at a mosque in northeast Nigeria killed five people and wounded 35 others.
Nigeria is roughly divided between a predominantly Muslim population in the north and a largely Christian population in the south. In a Christmas Eve message on X, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for peace and unity among people of different faiths.
“I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence,” Tinubu wrote.
In an earlier post on November 1, Tinubu rejected claims that Nigeria is religiously intolerant, saying such portrayals “do not reflect our national reality.” He added that the government opposes and does not promote religious persecution.
Despite those statements, the United States has recently taken punitive steps against Nigeria over concerns about religious freedom. In October, Trump reinstated Nigeria on a U.S. list of countries accused of violating religious liberty. Earlier this week, Nigeria was also included on a U.S. travel ban list imposing partial entry restrictions.
According to Republican Rep. Riley Moore, who recently visited Nigeria, the two countries have established a joint security task force to address ongoing threats.
