Trump announces strikes against ISIS in Nigeria and wishes MERRY CHRISTMAS to ‘dead terrorists’ he claims are targeting Christians
Samantha Beech
Fri, December 26, 2025 at 12:07 AM UTC
3 min read
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President Donald Trump has announced the U.S. military has conducted deadly strikes against ISIS targets in Nigeria after the group is accused of targeting Christians.
“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!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post the evening of Christmas Day.
“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,” Trump continued.
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“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.”
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also posted online about the strikes.
Hegseth said in a post 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 defense secretary added, “Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!”
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The Nigerian government is yet to comment publicly on the strikes.
Last month, Trump said he was instructing the Defense Department to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria, claiming the nation’s government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.”
He also declared that Nigeria is a “country of particular concern.” The U.S. government uses this designation for nations determined to have committed “particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” according to the State Department’s website.
Trump said in November, “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,”
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Much of northern Nigeria has been struck by conflict in an ongoing security crisis and Trump has singled the country out for what he calls “the killing of Christians” by “radical Islamists.”
Victims and church leaders have reiterated Trump’s claims that Christians are persecuted, saying they’ve long been attacked, kidnapped or killed over their faith.
But many insist the reality isn’t that simple, with experts and residents saying most attacks emphasize the widespread violence that has long plagued the West African nation, where everyone is a potential victim, regardless of background or belief.
With reporting from the Associated Press.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.