Former US President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out additional military strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue.
Trump made the remarks during an interview with The New York Times, where he was asked whether the Christmas Day missile strikes against Islamic State targets marked the beginning of a broader US military campaign.
From my experience tracking conflict-related statements and policy signals using official transcripts, media briefings, and foreign policy monitoring tools, Trump’s language suggests a conditional but open-ended stance rather than a fixed military plan.
The Christmas Day strikes occurred about a month after Donald Trump publicly threatened to deploy US troops to Nigeria. At the time, he said American forces would move in “guns-a-blazing” to eliminate terrorists allegedly targeting Christians, echoing claims by some US lawmakers that Christians were facing genocide in the country.
However, Nigerian authorities have insisted that the operation did not undermine the country’s sovereignty. According to Ademola Oshodi, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs and Protocol, Nigeria retained full control over decision-making related to the single military action.
Despite this, Trump indicated that further strikes remain possible. He repeated that position in the NYT interview published on Thursday.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump said. “But if they continue to kill Christians it will be a many-time strike.”
The Nigerian government has consistently rejected claims that Christians are being deliberately targeted for killings, maintaining that insecurity in the country affects multiple communities.
In October, Donald Trump senior adviser on Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, stated that extremist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State affiliates have killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria, based on security assessments and casualty data.
When asked about those remarks, Trump acknowledged the broader impact of violence but maintained his position.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria,” he said. “But it’s mostly Christians.”
