Trump warns Nigeria it risks US military action over attacks

María Paula Mijares Torres, Bloomberg News on Nov 2, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

President Donald Trump threatened possible U.S. military action against Islamist militants in Nigeria if the country’s government doesn’t halt the groups’ “killing of Christians.”

In a post Saturday on Truth Social, Trump said he’s instructing the Pentagon “to prepare for possible action” and threatened an immediate cutoff in aid to Nigeria, an OPEC member that’s Africa’s most populous country.

Trump said on Friday he was designating Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern because of worries about the safety of Christians in the country. Republican Senator Ted Cruz has been pushing for Congress to designate Nigeria as a violator of religious freedom.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected Trump’s characterization of the country as religiously intolerant in a lengthy post on X. The U.S. president is disregarding “the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” Tinubu said on the social media site.

Tinubu has been under pressure this year from a rising Islamist insurgency in northeastern Nigeria, including attacks of dozens of fortified army bases. Nigeria’s roughly 230 million people are split between Christians and Muslims, and attacks have targeted both communities.

The militants, who emerged from the insurgency known as Boko Haram, have waged bombings, kidnappings and raids on towns and villages since 2009, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and disrupting daily life.

High-profile incidents, such as the 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, have drawn international attention to the humanitarian crisis the insurgency has created. The extremist group has also used women and girls as suicide bombers, heightening the climate of fear.

In April, Tinubu said at least 40 people were killed when Muslim gunmen attacked a Christian farming community.

“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA 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 who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump said on Saturday.

Any U.S. attack would be “fast, vicious, and sweet,” he said.

_____