On Christmas night (Dec. 25), President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the United States had launched a “deadly strike against ISIS” in northwest Nigeria.
The strike came less than two months after Trump announced that he would designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” because of the growing persecution of Christians in the nation.
According to Open Doors’ World Watch List—an annual report ranking countries where Christians face persecution—Nigeria ranks seventh. Open Doors reports that more than 46% of Nigeria’s population is Christian.
RELATED: ‘We Stand by Ready’—President Trump Warns Nigeria To Stop Persecuting Christians
The International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, an African nongovernmental organization that documents human rights violations, released a report in August stating that more than 7,000 Christians were killed in the first seven months of 2025. The report also states that between 2009-2023, approximately 52,000 Christians in Nigeria were killed and more than 18,000 were abducted.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria,” Trump wrote, “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,” said Trump.”
Trump added, “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 concluded.
RELATED: Rapper Nicki Minaj Speaks Out Against Persecution of Nigerian Christians
Last month, best-selling, Grammy-nominated rapper Nicki Minaj, who is known for her sexually explicit song “Anaconda,” used her platform to bring awareness to Christians being killed in Nigeria. On Nov. 18, Minaj spoke at a United States Mission to the United Nations in New York City event titled “Combating Religious Violence and the Killing of Christians in Nigeria.”
.@POTUS “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… pic.twitter.com/ct7rUW128t
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) December 26, 2025
