{"id":48290,"date":"2025-11-02T18:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T18:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/11\/02\/citing-christian-persecution-trump-hints-at-military-use-in-nigeria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:43:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:43:42","slug":"citing-christian-persecution-trump-hints-at-military-use-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2025\/11\/02\/citing-christian-persecution-trump-hints-at-military-use-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Citing Christian persecution, Trump hints at military use in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he\u2019s ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria as he stepped up his allegations that the government is failing to rein in <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nigeria-raid-attack-killed-db71fad73dc1a15499079d5e6af19339\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nigeria-raid-attack-killed-db71fad73dc1a15499079d5e6af19339\">the persecution of Christians<\/a> in the West African country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president also warned that he \u201cwill immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf 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, \u2018guns-a-blazing,\u2019 to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,\u201d Trump posted on social media. \u201cI am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The warning came after Nigeria\u2019s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier on Saturday pushed back on Trump announcing a day earlier that he was designating the West African country \u201ca country of particular concern\u201d for allegedly failing to rein in the persecution of Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a social media statement on Saturday, Tinubu said that the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cReligious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,\u201d Tinubu said. \u201cNigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it. Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump on Friday said \u201cChristianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria\u201d and \u201cradical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s comment came weeks after U.S. Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ted-cruz\" rel=\"\">Ted Cruz<\/a> urged Congress to designate Africa\u2019s most populous country as a violator of religious freedom with claims of \u201cChristian mass murder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nigeria\u2019s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attacks in Nigeria have varying motives. There are religiously motivated ones targeting both Christians and Muslims, clashes between farmers and herders over dwindling resources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups and ethnic clashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Christians are among those targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria\u2019s Muslim-majority north, where most attacks occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kimiebi Ebienfa, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reiterated the commitment of Nigeria to protect citizens of all religions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Federal Government of Nigeria will continue to defend all citizens, irrespective of race, creed, or religion,\u201d Ebienfa said in a statement on Saturday. \u201cLike America, Nigeria has no option but to celebrate the diversity that is our greatest strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nigeria was placed on the country of particular concern list by the U.S. for the first time in 2020 over what the State Department called \u201csystematic violations of religious freedom.\u201d The designation, which did not single out attacks on Christians, was lifted in 2023 in what observers saw as a way to improve ties between the countries ahead of then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discussion of military action comes as the president ramped up allegations that Nigeria is failing to rein in persecution of its Christian population. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[7330,3239],"class_list":["post-48290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"25G57OALFFHNRN7HHZ6A7PIEJI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/11\/02\/citing-christian-persecution-trump-hints-at-military-use-in-nigeria\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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