U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could carry out additional airstrikes in Nigeria if attacks against Christians continue in the West African nation. His remarks were made during a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, where he addressed recent U.S. military operations in northern Nigeria.
President Trump was asked whether the airstrikes conducted on Christmas Day in Nigeria’s Sokoto State—targeting suspected Islamist militants—were part of a broader or ongoing military campaign. While expressing a preference for limited intervention, he made clear that further action remained an option.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike. But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike,” Trump said.
The comments follow earlier statements by President Trump accusing the Nigerian government of failing to adequately protect Christian communities from jihadist violence. Nigerian authorities have strongly rejected these accusations, emphasizing that extremist groups target civilians regardless of religious affiliation.
Nigeria’s government maintains that “Muslims, Christians and those of no faith alike” are victims of insecurity across the country. Independent organizations that monitor political violence in Nigeria have also reported that most victims of jihadist attacks in recent years have been Muslims, particularly in the country’s north-east.
Claims that Christians in Nigeria are facing genocide began circulating last year in some right-wing political circles in the United States. When questioned about these claims in the interview published on Thursday, President Trump acknowledged that Muslims are also being killed but maintained that Christians are disproportionately targeted.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.
A spokesperson for Nigeria’s Foreign Minister did not directly address the possibility of further U.S. airstrikes but reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to diplomatic engagement. Speaking to the BBC, the spokesperson said Nigeria would continue to work with international partners, including the United States, on the basis of mutual respect, international law, and Nigeria’s sovereignty.
“Nigeria remains committed to protecting all citizens, Christians and Muslims alike, without discrimination,” said Alkasim Abdulkadir.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with over 230 million people, is nearly evenly divided between Christians—who predominantly live in the south—and Muslims, who are largely concentrated in the north.
For more than 15 years, Nigeria’s north-east has been devastated by a violent Islamist insurgency led by Boko Haram and factions linked to the so-called Islamic State (IS), primarily operating in Borno State. Beyond jihadist violence, the country continues to face a wide range of security challenges, including mass kidnappings by criminal gangs, deadly conflicts over land, and separatist unrest in other regions.
The Christmas Day U.S. airstrikes reportedly struck two camps run by a jihadist group known as Lakurawa in the largely Muslim Sokoto State in north-western Nigeria, near the border with Niger. Neither U.S. nor Nigerian authorities have released casualty figures, and no official assessment of the strike’s impact has been made public.
Lakurawa is believed to have emerged from the broader Sahel region and established a presence along Nigeria’s north-western borders several years ago. Following the strikes, both the U.S. and Nigerian governments stated that the group had links to Islamic State–affiliated networks in the Sahel. However, IS has not publicly acknowledged any formal ties to Lakurawa, unlike with other militant groups it supports in the region.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, said after the strikes that the operation was a joint effort between Nigeria and the United States and was not driven by religious motives.
“It had nothing to do with a particular religion,” he said.
Addressing the timing of the operation, the foreign minister added that the strikes were unrelated to Christmas, despite President Trump describing them as a “Christmas present.” He confirmed that the airstrikes were approved by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and involved Nigeria’s armed forces.
The developments underscore the complexity of Nigeria’s security crisis and the sensitivities surrounding international military involvement, religious narratives, and counterterrorism efforts in the region.
