United States President Donald Trump has again criticised the Nigerian government over what he described as the ongoing “Christian genocide” in the country, expressing anger at the scale of killings and warning of possible consequences for Abuja.
Speaking on a conservative radio programme on Friday, in remarks later highlighted by Fox News, Trump claimed that thousands of Christians were being killed in Nigeria and accused the government of failing to protect vulnerable communities from extremist violence. He reiterated his earlier decision to designate Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged religious persecution.
Trump warned that the United States could halt all financial assistance to Nigeria and repeated a threat to take military action against Islamist militants if the Nigerian authorities “do not do more” to curb the attacks. He described the situation as unacceptable, insisting that Washington would no longer ignore it.
“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 give a lot of subsidies to Nigeria. We’re going to end up stopping.”
His comments come amid ongoing international debate about the nature of violence in parts of Nigeria, with some observers linking the attacks to religious tensions, while others—including some Nigerian officials—argue that framing the conflict as purely religious is misleading.