United States President Donald Trump has claimed that recent US missile strikes in Nigeria helped stop attacks on Christian communities and weakened terrorist groups operating in the country.
Speaking at an event in Washington on Friday, Trump said the military operation targeted terrorist leaders and prevented further violence against civilians, particularly Christians.
According to the US president, the strikes dealt a heavy blow to the insurgents by killing their top commanders, warning that any attempt to resume attacks would attract a stronger military response.
“As you know, we recently struck Nigeria and largely ended the slaughter of great Christian populations,” Trump said.
He claimed that thousands of Christians, including women, children and elderly people, had been killed before the operation.
“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,” he said.
Trump said the military action had discouraged the terrorists from carrying out further attacks.
“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.”
He compared the operation in Nigeria with the United States’ military actions against Iran, saying both were aimed at protecting global security.
“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.
Trump also said his administration remained committed to protecting Christians around the world, even in countries where the US has no direct military presence.
“So I’m saving Christians throughout the world, even though we are not in those various countries where you read about this,” he said.
He added that the US would continue to target terrorist groups wherever they operate.
“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.
“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 further warned against what he described as threats to religious freedom, claiming that some political ideologies seek to suppress religious practices.
In December 2025, the United States carried out a series of airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Sokoto State. In May, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters announced that more than 20 ISIS/ISWAP fighters were killed during joint US-Nigeria airstrikes in Metele, Borno State.
The Nigerian military also confirmed that, in June, a joint operation with the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) killed 21 ISWAP fighters in an airstrike in Arege, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.
