President Trump has described recent U.S. military airstrikes against ISIS targets in Nigeria as a deliberate and symbolic response to escalating violence, calling the operation a “Christmas present” to the extremist group.
Speaking Friday during an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on WABC, the President said the strikes were intentionally timed and forceful, following repeated warnings to both militants and regional leaders.
“I said yesterday, ‘Hit them on Christmas Day. It will be a Christmas present.’ We hit ISIS, who are terrible. They are butchers. We really hit them hard in different locations. They really got hit hard yesterday. They got a very bad Christmas present,” Trump said.
According to Trump, the action followed earlier messages directed at Nigeria and neighboring countries, warning of consequences if the killings continued. “I told Nigeria, and I told the people around Nigeria, that if you do it, you’re going to get hit,” he added.
The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed Thursday that the operation, carried out in coordination with Nigerian authorities, resulted in the deaths of “multiple ISIS terrorists” operating within the West African nation.
Trump reinforced the rationale behind the strikes in a post on Truth Social, linking the military action directly to religious violence in the region.
“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. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”
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The President has taken a hard stance on Nigeria in recent months. In November, he designated the country a “country of particular concern” (CPC) due to persistent religious violence, signaling the possibility of military intervention if attacks against civilians, particularly Christians, continued.
War Department Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the President’s message following the strikes. “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end,” Hegseth said Thursday. “The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come.”
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the strikes in an official statement, emphasizing that terrorism in any form undermines national and global stability.
The ministry said that terrorist violence “whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security.”
While U.S. officials have not disclosed the precise locations or scope of the strikes, the operation signals an intensified American posture toward militant groups operating in West Africa, particularly those accused of targeting religious communities.
Further developments are expected as both governments assess the impact of the operation and outline next steps.
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