U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday reiterated his threat of a possible military operation in Nigeria over the alleged killings of Christians, following the Nigerian Presidency’s suggestion for dialogue to resolve the issue.
When asked by reporters aboard Air Force One whether he was considering deploying U.S. troops on the ground in Nigeria or launching air strikes, Trump replied: “Could be, I mean, a lot of things — I envisage a lot of things.”
“They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” he added.
In a fiery post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump revealed that he had instructed the Pentagon to develop a possible plan of attack in Nigeria, just a day after warning that Christianity was “facing an existential threat” in Africa’s most populous country.
In his post, Trump stated that if Nigeria failed to stop the killings, the United States would launch an attack, saying: “It will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians.”
Reacting to Trump’s remarks, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s spokesman, Daniel Bwala, told AFP on Sunday that Nigeria remains a key U.S. partner in the global fight against terrorism.
“Nigeria is U.S.’s partner in the global fight against terrorism. When leaders meet there would be better outcomes,” Bwala said.
He added that Nigeria welcomes American support in combating terrorism, provided it “respects our territorial integrity.”
“We do not see the (Trump’s social media post) in the literal sense,” Bwala continued. “We know that Donald Trump has his own style of communication,” he said, suggesting the post might be intended to “force a sit-down between the two leaders so they can iron out a common front to fight their insecurity.”
Earlier, Bwala hinted in a post on X that a meeting between Tinubu and Trump could happen soon.
“As for the differences as to whether terrorists in Nigeria target only Christians or in fact all faiths and no faiths, the differences if they exist, would be discussed and resolved by the two leaders when they meet in the coming days, either in State House or White House,” he wrote.
Speaking from Washington, Bwala declined to provide further details on any planned meeting.
Trump had earlier posted on Friday that “thousands of Christians are being killed (and) Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.”
Nigeria, however, has denied claims that Christians are being targeted more than adherents of other religions.
“The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” President Tinubu said on social media Saturday. (Channels)