Terrorism: ‘There will be many more,’ Trump speaks on US airstrikes in Nigeria

United States President, Donald Trump, has assured that the US military will continue strikes on terrorist targets in Nigeria if what he described as the “slaughter of Christians continues.”

The US President made this vow late Thursday while announcing that the US War Department, following his directives, launched “perfect” airstrikes on Christmas Day in Nigeria targeting “terrorist scum” which he accused of “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians”.

Trump, in a Truth Social post, went on to wish everyone Merry Christmas, including the dead terrorists, saying only the United States is capable of executing such numerous strikes.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!

“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was. The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.

“May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” Trump said in a late Thursday post.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth took to X to praise his department’s readiness to take action in Nigeria, and said he was “grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.”

The attacks mark the first by US forces in Nigeria under Trump, and come after the Republican unexpectedly berated the west African nation in October and November, saying Christians there faced an “existential threat” that amounted to “genocide” amid Nigeria’s myriad armed conflicts.

The diplomatic offensive was welcomed by some but interpreted by others as inflaming religious tensions in Africa’s most populous country, which has seen bouts of sectarian violence in the past.

Nigeria’s government and independent analysts reject framing the country’s violence in terms of religious persecution — a narrative long used by the Christian right in the United States and Europe.