US President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of Nigeria on Friday, calling the country “a disgrace” as he renewed accusations that the government is failing to protect Christians from extremist violence.
Speaking on a conservative radio programme, Trump repeated his threat to take military action against Islamist militants in Nigeria if the government does not “do more” to stop attacks on Christian communities.
“Nigeria is a disgrace. The whole thing is a disgrace,” Trump said. “They’re killing people by the thousands. It’s a genocide, and I’m really angry about it. And we pay, you know, we give a lot of subsidies to Nigeria. We’re going to end up stopping.”
Nigeria has a long history of ethnoreligious conflict in which both Christians and Muslims have suffered mass casualties. However, the narrative that Christians are being uniquely targeted has gained significant traction in right-wing circles in the US.
Hegseth reinforces administration’s position
Trump’s comments came a day after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, at the Pentagon. The meeting was aimed at reinforcing the Trump administration’s claim that Christians in Nigeria are facing “horrific violence.”
“Under @POTUS leadership, DOW is working aggressively with Nigeria to end the persecution of Christians by jihadist terrorists,” Hegseth said in a post on X on Friday, using the acronym “DOW” — the administration’s preferred term for the Department of Defence (“Department of War”).
A Defence Department statement