United States President Donald Trump has claimed that recent American military operations in Nigeria significantly reduced the killing of Christians in the country.
Trump made the remarks on Friday during an event in Washington, where he spoke about his administration’s security operations and efforts to combat terrorism across different regions.
According to him, the U.S. intervention in Nigeria played a major role in stopping attacks allegedly targeted at Christian communities, especially in areas affected by insurgency and violent extremist activities.
“As you know, we recently struck Nigeria and largely ended the slaughter of great Christian populations,” he said.
Trump described the situation in Nigeria before the strikes as severe, alleging that thousands of innocent people had been killed in brutal attacks.
“They have a great Christian population. They were being butchered… butchered. Thousands and thousands of people were being killed, children, women, old people, just being slaughtered, hacked to death.”
The U.S. president said the strikes sent a strong warning to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria and discouraged them from carrying out further attacks.
According to Trump, the military action weakened key terror networks and eliminated several high-ranking leaders.
“They know that if they go further, the attack will be far greater and that they don’t want to really get involved anymore so much,” he said.
“You know, we hit them very hard. We knocked out their leader. We knocked out their second leader and their third leader.”
Trump also compared the military action in Nigeria to ongoing American security concerns in the Middle East, particularly regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“It sounds a little bit like Iran, actually. It’s all about a different cause that we have to do because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let it happen,” he said.
He further stated that protecting Christians around the world remains a major priority for his administration, insisting that the U.S. would continue to respond aggressively to threats against religious communities.
“So I’m saving Christians throughout the world, even though we are not in those various countries where you read about this,” he said.
“But they’d like to make our country just like those countries. That’s where they started. They started right where we are right now.”
Trump also vowed that the United States would sustain military pressure on terrorist groups wherever they are found.
“But I’m saving them by hitting these terrorists very violently and very hard. We’re hitting them very hard by the greatest weapons on earth, taking them out,” he said.
He added that intelligence gathering remains central to U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
“We know where they are. We hunt them down, and we take them out. They go into a village and they just kill everybody, it’s like crazy.”
Trump also raised concerns about threats to religious freedom, warning against ideologies he believes could undermine faith-based institutions.
“They will close your churches in this country. They go communist, and they’re trying to. They will kill your people, and that’s what they’re about. They want to end religion,” he added.
The remarks come months after a series of joint counterterrorism operations involving Nigerian forces and the United States in northern Nigeria.
In December 2025, the U.S. launched multiple airstrikes targeting ISIS-linked terrorists in Sokoto.
In May, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters announced that more than 20 ISIS/ISWAP fighters were killed during coordinated U.S.-Nigeria air operations in Metele.
Earlier in June, Nigerian troops working alongside United States Africa Command carried out another airstrike in Arege, resulting in the death of 21 ISWAP fighters.
