President Donald Trump wished the terrorists he claims were killed in U.S. airstrikes in Nigeria on Thursday “MERRY CHRISTMAS” in a Truth Social post.
Trump used one of his nearly 150 Christmas Day posts to announce that the U.S. had launched strikes in northwestern Nigeria targeting “ISIS Terrorist Scum,” whom he accused of slaughtering Christians.
“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 wrote Thursday evening, claiming that “numerous perfect strikes” had been executed.
The 79-year-old commander-in-chief added, “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.”
Missiles reportedly hit insurgents at two ISIS camps in Nigeria’s Sokoto State, a U.S. military official told The New York Times. According to the official, the attack was carried out in coordination with the Nigerian military.
Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Christians in Africa’s most populous country are being systematically targeted in widespread violence.
Nigeria, where roughly 56 percent of the population is Muslim and 43 percent is Christian, has a longstanding problem with insurgency by militant jihadists in the northwest.
Groups monitoring the violence say most victims of the jihadist groups are Muslims, according to the BBC, while the Nigerian government says that “terrorists attack all who reject their murderous ideology—Muslims, Christians, and those of no faith alike.”
But Trump has alleged a “mass slaughter” of Christians and threatened a full-scale invasion of the country after watching a Fox News report on the violence last month.
“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” wrote Trump, who has not given up on his dream of a Nobel Peace Prize.
Following Thursday’s strikes, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X, “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight—on Christmas.”
The former Fox News host, who wants to be called “Secretary of War,” added, “Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
Nigeria is one of the United States’ most crucial strategic allies in Africa, a continent Trump once described as comprised of “s--thole” countries,” with the U.S. historically providing sizable assistance in terms of economic stability, humanitarian aid, and efforts to combat terrorist activity.
