President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out further military strikes in Nigeria if violence against Christians persists, despite repeated assurances from Nigerian authorities that there is no systematic persecution based on religion.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a U.S. military strike conducted in Nigeria on Christmas Day. At the time, the U.S. military said the operation targeted Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria and was carried out at the request of the Nigerian government.
Nigerian officials described the strike as a joint counterterrorism operation, stressing that it was directed at “terrorists” and was “not related to any particular religion.”
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump said, according to CNBC. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
Asked about comments by his Africa adviser, who noted that Islamist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State affiliates have killed more Muslims than Christians, Trump acknowledged that Muslims were also victims of the violence but maintained that Christians were disproportionately affected.
“I think that Muslims are also being killed in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.
In late October, Trump began publicly warning that Christianity faces what he described as an “existential threat” in Nigeria, accusing the Nigerian government of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and threatening U.S. military intervention.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than 230 million people, is roughly evenly divided between Christians—predominantly in the south—and Muslims, who are mainly concentrated in the north. The country continues to grapple with serious security challenges, including insurgency, banditry, and kidnappings, particularly in northern regions.
However, Nigerian authorities have consistently rejected claims of systematic persecution of Christians, arguing that extremist groups target both Muslims and Christians and that the violence is driven by terrorism and criminal criminality rather than religion.
In response to Trump’s earlier statements, Nigerian officials said they were open to cooperation with Washington in combating militant groups but objected to characterisations suggesting that Christians were uniquely targeted.
