United States President Donald Trump has warned that Washington may carry out additional military strikes in Nigeria if attacks on Christians continue, raising fresh concerns over escalating foreign military involvement in the country.
Trump issued the warning during an interview with The New York Times, where he was asked whether the Christmas Day missile strikes against the Islamic State terror group marked the beginning of a broader military campaign.
The airstrikes came about a month after Trump publicly threatened to deploy US troops to Nigeria, declaring they would go in “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing our cherished Christians.” The statement followed repeated claims by some US lawmakers that Christians are facing genocide in the West African nation.
Nigeria, however, retained authority over the decision-making process surrounding the single military operation, according to Ademola Oshodi, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs and Protocol.
Following the strikes, Trump signalled that further action remained possible, a position he reinforced in the NYT interview published on Thursday.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” he 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 violence in the country affects multiple religious and ethnic groups.
In October, Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, said extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS had killed more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria.
When asked about his adviser’s remarks, Trump acknowledged broader casualties but reiterated his position.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians.”
