Last month Trump gave orders to the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria.

08:14, Fri, Dec 26, 2025 Updated: 08:15, Fri, Dec 26, 2025

DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump ordered strikes against ISIS (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump authorised Christmas airstrikes against Islamic States' "scum" in Nigeria. The strikes were coordinated with Nigerian authorities in Sokoto State, according to US Africa Command.

The US President announced the attack on his social media platfor,m Truth Social. He wrote: "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 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.

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US ARMY

The US Army fires missiles at ISIS targets in Nigeria. (Image: Foc News)

"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."

Last month, Trump gave orders to the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria.

The order was given following reports of alleged persecution against Christians in the country, which was denied by Nigeria's Government.

Officials said Trump's statement misrepresented the complex security situation in Nigeria and said that armed groups had also targeted Muslims.

However, they agreed to collaborate with the White House to strengthen the country's efforts against terrorist groups.

Nigeria's population is split between ‌Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.

Following the US strikes, the country's foreign ministry said: "Nigeria reiterates that all counter-terrorism efforts are guided by the primacy of protecting civilian lives, safeguarding national unity, and upholding the rights and dignity of all citizens, irrespective of faith or ethnicity.

"Terrorist violence in any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities, remains an affront to Nigeria's values and to international peace and security."

Last month, armed men took more than 300 students from a Catholic school in northern Nigeria in one of the country's biggest mass abductions.

The hostages were, though, all released three days before Christmas on December 22.