Trump Calls His Bombing of Nigeria ‘A Christmas Present’

Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool

President Donald Trump called the US bombing of Nigeria a “Christmas present” for ISIS militants on Friday.

Calling in to discuss the bombing with WABC’s John Catsimatidis, the president said that launching the attack on Christmas Day was an intentional choice.

“I said yesterday, ‘Hit them on Christmas Day. It will be a Christmas present,'” he said. “We hit ISIS, who are terrible. They are butchers. We really hit them hard in different locations. They really got hit hard yesterday. They got a very bad Christmas present.”

The president had previously made threats against the Nigerian government, a subject that was reportedly brought to his attention after a Fox News segment on the topic.

The president told Catsimatidis he “told Nigeria, and I told the people around Nigeria, that if you do it, you’re going to get hit.”

Writing on Truth Social on Christmas night, the president announced: “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!”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced the attack, calling it a response to violence against Christians in the country.

“The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end,” Hegseth said on Thursday. “The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come.”

Despite the administration’s claims that the crisis in Nigeria is entirely due to the “slaughtering of Christians,” numerous reports show violence against multiple demographic groups. Experts say violence in Nigeria is driven by knots of religious, ethnic and land conflicts, while attacks are conducted against Christian and Muslim communities.

Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar underlined this point on Friday, writing on X that “simplistic labels don’t solve complex threats.”

“On @CNN, I made clear that terrorism in Nigeria is not a religious conflict; it is a regional security threat,” he said. “Nigeria’s focus remains the protection of innocent lives and the defeat of terrorism through coordinated action with partners who respect sovereignty and regional stability.”

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