President Trump listens during a ceremony for the presentation of the Mexican Border Defense Medal in the Oval Office of the White House on December 15, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America
President Trump announced late Thursday that the U.S. had launched a “deadly strike” against Islamic State fighters in northwest Nigeria, who he said had been killing Christians in the area.
In a Christmas night post on Truth Social, Trump said the strike was directed at “ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not see 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,” he said, adding that U.S. forces had “executed numerous perfect strikes.”
“Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper,” the president wrote. “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.”
The announcement follows multiple U.S. strikes last week against ISIS targets in Syria in response to what the U.S. Central Command described as a targeted killing of two U.S. soldiers and an interpreter by an ISIS gunman there.
Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to stop the persecution of Christians in the country and last month he said he ordered the Pentagon to draw up plans for possible military action against Nigeria and warned the U.S. would suspend aid to the West African country.
Nigeria is roughly evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. The Nigerian government says attacks by militant groups are less about religion than where those groups are located.
Last month, Nigeria said it welcomed U.S. help in fighting insurgents but that its territorial integrity must be respected, according to Reuters.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement it had “conducted a strike at the request of Nigerian authorities in Sokoto State killing multiple ISIS terrorists.”
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In a post on X, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “The @DeptofWar
is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come… Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation.”
Nigeria’s government has been keen to stress that the strike had its backing. Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar says Abuja shared intelligence with the U.S. ahead of the Christmas Day attack.
Speaking to Nigeria’s Channels TV, Tuggar said he spoke twice with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio — once for 19 minutes before the strike and again briefly afterwards — adding that President Bola Tinubu gave the green light.
Tuggar said the strikes would be an “ongoing process” involving other countries, though he did not give details. He insisted Nigeria’s fight against armed groups is not driven by religion, “whether Muslims or Christians, and irrespective of the type of terrorism.”
But critics say President Trump’s social media post announcing the strikes — issued hours before any Nigerian government statement — risks undermining that message.
Some in Nigeria are already questioning whether this signals a new, longer-term U.S. military role. That, in turn, raises questions about what comes next — and whether Nigeria is strong enough to exert any real influence over U.S. military operations in the region – or prevent them from escalating.