Donald Trump can't stop: shortly after ordering the Pentagon to continue nuclear testing and prepare strikes against Venezuela, he also planned armed intervention in Nigeria - to protect Christian communities.
In a post published over the weekend on his Truth Social page, Trump wrote: “Radical Islamists are responsible for this massacre,” and warned that if the Nigerian government does not stop the killings, Washington will immediately stop all aid and support to Nigeria,” and may even “enter the now disgraced country with weapons.”
The Spark: Fox News and Florida
CNN sources According toTrump was on a plane to Florida last Friday when he saw a Fox News report about Islamist groups attacking Christians in Nigeria. The president reportedly immediately rushed in and asked for more information about the situation. Shortly after Air Force One landed in West Palm Beach, he began posting with his usual vigor on his own platform, Truth Social.
From then on, the persecution of Nigerian Christians became Trump's weekend obsession: the topic continued throughout Saturday and Sunday, and the president eventually went so far as to instruct the American defense apparatus to"prepare for possible action."
Trump said “radical Islamists” were responsible for the mass slaughter of Christians. In his post, he claimed that if the Nigerian government did not intervene, the United States would withdraw all aid and could even take military action.
The post was preceded not only by the Fox News report, but also by weeks of lobbying: American lawmakers and conservative Christian organizations tried to get Nigeria designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) due to religious persecution, which was done on November 3rd. Nigeria joined states such as Russia, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia in this. The CPC designation authorizes targeted response measures under US law – such as sanctions – but does not automatically entail punitive action. Rather, it is a political signal: a symbolic but diplomatically weighty message that often precedes a tougher foreign policy shift. Although the press has mostly covered Nigeria's case in connection with a possible military intervention, the country would not lose a penny by suspending aid: according to US data, Nigeria received approximately $1.02 billion in US aid in 2023 and approximately $902.9 million in 2024. Approximately $550 million in aid has been approved for the 2025 fiscal year, although the data is not yet complete.
Yes sir.
Pentagon officials told Reuters that Trump's sudden threat came as a surprise: They had expected the administration to continue focusing on traditional priorities - such as China's military buildup, border security, or forcing NATO allies to spend more on defense - but the shift to Nigeria and religious persecution could shake up US defense priorities.
