U.S. President Donald Trump has once again threatened military intervention in Nigeria over alleged mass killings of Christians, following the Nigerian government’s proposal for a diplomatic meeting to address the issue.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday while departing Washington, D.C., for London, Trump said the United States was considering several military options in response to the crisis.
“Could be, I mean, a lot of things — I envisage a lot of things,” Trump said when asked if U.S. troops or air strikes might be deployed in Nigeria. “They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen.”
The comments came after Trump, in a post on his Truth Social account on Saturday, claimed to have directed the Pentagon to draft a potential plan of attack in Nigeria. The former president said his move followed reports that Christianity was “facing an existential threat” in Africa’s most populous nation.
“If Nigeria does not stop the killings,” Trump wrote, “the United States will strike — and it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians.”
Responding to Trump’s remarks, Nigerian presidential spokesperson Daniel Bwala said Nigeria remains a key U.S. ally in the global fight against terrorism and would welcome cooperation that respects its sovereignty.
“Nigeria is the U.S.’s partner in the global fight against terrorism. When leaders meet, there will be better outcomes,” Bwala told AFP on Sunday. “Nigeria welcomes U.S. support to combat terrorism, as long as it respects our territorial integrity.”
Bwala also cautioned against taking Trump’s online statement literally, describing it as characteristic of the former president’s unconventional communication style.
“We know that Donald Trump has his own style of communication,” Bwala said, adding that the post might be intended to “create an opportunity for both leaders to meet and establish a joint strategy to tackle insecurity.”
He had earlier suggested on X (formerly Twitter) that a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Trump could take place soon.
“As for the differences as to whether terrorists in Nigeria target only Christians or all faiths and no faiths, those differences, if they exist, will be discussed and resolved by the two leaders when they meet in the coming days — either at the State House or the White House,” Bwala noted.
Though he spoke from Washington, Bwala declined to give details about any planned meeting between the two presidents.
Trump had earlier claimed that “thousands of Christians are being killed” in Nigeria, blaming “radical Islamists” for what he described as a “mass slaughter.”
However, the Nigerian government has dismissed allegations of religious persecution, insisting that attacks in the country affect citizens of all faiths.
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” President Tinubu wrote on social media on Saturday.
