United States President Donald Trump has said that while Muslims are also victims of violence in Nigeria, Christians remain the primary targets, warning that the United States could carry out further military strikes if attacks on Christians persist.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, while responding to questions about a U.S. military strike conducted in Nigeria on Christmas Day.
The U.S. military had said the strike targeted Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria and was carried out at the request of the Nigerian government.
Nigerian authorities described the operation as a joint effort against terrorists, stressing that it was not directed at any particular religious group.
“I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” Trump said. “But if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.”
When asked about comments by his Africa adviser that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram have killed more Muslims than Christians, Trump acknowledged that Muslims are also victims but maintained that Christians are disproportionately affected.
“I think that Muslims are being killed also in Nigeria. But it’s mostly Christians,” he said.
In late October, Trump began warning that Christianity faces what he described as an “existential threat” in Nigeria, accusing the Nigerian government of failing to adequately protect Christian communities and raising the possibility of U.S. military intervention.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with over 230 million people, is almost evenly divided between Christians, who are largely based in the south, and Muslims, who are predominantly in the north.
Despite ongoing security challenges, including insurgency and widespread kidnappings, the Nigerian government has repeatedly denied claims of systematic persecution of Christians. Authorities have maintained that both Christians and Muslims have been killed by insurgent groups and have expressed willingness to cooperate with the United States in combating terrorism, while rejecting claims that violence is targeted at one religious group alone.
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