President Trump threatened to send U.S. military to Nigeria and withhold foreign aid to the country if the government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”
He said aid will be stopped and the military “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.”
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action,” he wrote on Truth Social Saturday. “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!”
On Friday, the president said in a post that he was labeling Nigeria “a country of particular concern.”
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post. “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a ‘COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.’”
He also said he would ask several lawmakers to look into the issue and report back to him.
“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”
The religious affiliation of people who live in Nigeria is nearly split, half Islam and half Christian.
The Nigerian government denies that Christians are being targeted specifically.
The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday in response to Mr. Trump’s designation that the country remains “committed in our resolve to tackle the violent extremism.”
“Like America, Nigeria has no option but to celebrate the diversity that is our greatest strength. Nigeria is a God-fearing country where we respect faith, tolerance, diversity and inclusion, in concurrence with the rules-based international order,” the ministry wrote.
Mr. Trump labeled Nigeria a country of particular concern during his first term, but the label was reversed under former President Biden.
