President Donald Trump has warned that the United States is prepared to launch additional military strikes in Nigeria if the targeted killing of Christians continues. In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, January 8, 2026, Trump addressed the controversial Christmas Day missile strikes that hit two insurgent camps in Sokoto State. “I’d love to make it a one-time strike,” the President said, “but if they continue to kill Christians, it will be a many-time strike.” The US military fired more than a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles from a Navy ship in the Gulf of Guinea on December 25, 2025, an operation Trump described as “perfect.”
The strikes targeted a militant group known as Lakurawa, which operates primarily in northwest Nigeria. While Trump’s administration has characterized the group as “ISIS Terrorist Scum” focusing on Christians, his own senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, had previously noted that extremist groups in the region often kill more Muslims than Christians. When confronted with this discrepancy, Trump acknowledged that Muslims are also being killed but insisted the violence is “mostly Christians.” This rhetoric has appealed to his evangelical base but has raised concerns among international observers about the complexity of the Sahel’s security dynamics.
The Nigerian government has maintained a delicate diplomatic balance following the intervention. Ademola Oshodi, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs, clarified that Nigeria retained control over the decision-making process and viewed the strike as a “joint operation.” However, Abuja has consistently rejected the “genocide” narrative pushed by some US politicians, emphasizing that the terrorists target all Nigerians regardless of faith. Residents in Sokoto reported that the heat from the missiles was intense enough to shake rooms, prompting calls for the federal government to ensure civilian protection during such high-tech foreign interventions.
