Trump is quietly preparing to defend Nigerian Christians



On the biggest diplomatic night of his second term, Donald Trump mentioned Nigeria.

In a Truth Social post seen by millions — at the precise moment the entire world was watching his Iran ceasefire announcement — he linked a disputed Iranian statement to "a Fake News site (from Nigeria)."

It was only one sentence, but that is how Trump softens the ground.

Two hundred US troops have been at Bauchi Airfield since February. MQ-9 Reaper drones were deployed in March.

Most Americans can't find Nigeria on a map, but it is the sixth largest nation on earth, on track to be the third by 2050 — a quarter of Africa's entire population. Nigeria is also a top-five oil producer in OPEC and has more than a trillion dollars in untapped minerals.

Whoever shapes Nigeria shapes Africa's future — and increasingly, the world's. The radical Islamists understand this. They've been actively working in the country for 30 years.

More Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria every year than in the rest of the world combined — more than 125,000 since 2009.

I've made 16 trips to the country since 2010, several under State Department Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisories. I documented what I found in my book "Epicenter: Nigeria, Radical Islam, and the War for Global Order."

Don't believe the spin: This isn't a tribal conflict or a climate dispute. It is coordinated, religiously motivated extermination — killers shouting "Allahu Akbar" as they slaughter Christians by the thousands — while elements within the Nigerian government enable the terror.

In congressional testimony in 2025, U.S. Gen. Michael Langley, AFRICOM commander, declared that the region is now "the epicenter of terrorism on the globe" — and that terror networks are actively pushing toward Nigeria's coastline, building the capacity to strike the American homeland.

The stated agenda of the terrorists, after bringing all of Nigeria under Sharia submission, is to use it as a launchpad for global jihad.

It's already happening. On March 12, an ISIS operative radicalized in Nigeria walked into an ROTC classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia, killed Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, and shouted "Allahu Akbar." Nigeria's jihad already has an American address.

RELATED: My friend survived the Global War on Terror. Leftist immigration policies got him killed.

Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service/Getty Images

Every Nigeria observer has watched in frustration as the Iran war consumed Washington for six weeks. Because Trump had been moving — and the clock was running.

On October 31 of last year, the Trump administration designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern — the most serious religious freedom label the U.S. government issues. Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.V.) was tasked to investigate.

Congress introduced HR 7457 with sanctions language targeting complicit Nigerian officials by name. Christmas night: The USS Paul Ignatius struck jihadist camps in Sokoto State with Tomahawk missiles — the first U.S. strike on Nigerian soil.

The Nigerian government provided the coordinates — in the far north, nowhere near where the genocide is actually happening. Make of that what you will. Then Iran took Trump's attention. And the killing in Nigeria accelerated.

From November through Palm Sunday, the body count was relentless — more than 400 kidnapped in November, miners slaughtered near Jos in December after specific advance warnings were publicly dismissed.

A New Year's Eve massacre. Forty-two men tied up and killed at a market in January. More than 160 dead in Kwara State in February. More than 100 dead at Ngoshe in March — Nigerian soldiers retreated without firing a shot.

Then Palm Sunday: 53 Christians murdered across three attacks. Easter Sunday: 17 more killed before dawn in Benue State.

In response, Rep. Moore quoted his boss: "President Trump has been very clear that if the Nigerian government will not address this genocide, we will address it for them."

The same week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced the U.S. is actively tracking Nigerian officials suspected of sponsoring terrorism.

Meanwhile Nigerian President Bola Tinubu's government has spent more than $10 million on Washington lobbyists — including Trump's own former State Department adviser, now a registered foreign agent for Nigeria — to manage the narrative.

Tinubu seems to have concluded Washington is manageable and decided to wait out Trump's term. He may have badly miscalculated.

Two hundred U.S. troops have been at Bauchi Airfield since February. MQ-9 Reaper drones were deployed in March. The USS Paul Ignatius is still in the Gulf of Guinea.

For two months, American eyes have been over northern Nigeria. We know where the terrorists are. Sen. Cruz says we know who funds them, and an Iran ceasefire could free up a president who doesn’t like to lose.

I've been saying for years that Nigeria is the epicenter of anti-American global forces — radical Islamists, Chinese mineral extraction, and deep-state protection rackets that have run cover for the killing from Washington for decades.

Trump's recent mention of Nigeria tells me he already knows it too.

Is the GOP’s hyper-fixation on the SAVE Act allowing a much darker threat to fester?



The SAVE Act, which would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections, is currently stalled in the Senate. Republicans, led by President Trump and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), are adamant on pushing it through, as it prevents noncitizen voting.

But is the GOP so hyper-fixated on passing it that it’s glossing over an even bigger threat?

According to Blaze Media’s Daniel Horowitz, the answer is yes.

“All you hear going into this new week is ‘the Save Act, the Save Act.’ Do you see what minutia that is when you look at the magnitude of what we're facing just with Islamic immigration?” he asks.

On this episode of “Conservative Review with Daniel Horowitz,” the no-nonsense conservative analyst breaks down why the SAVE Act is actually a distraction from more pressing immigration issues.

“We basically let in ... several million people that believe in at least civilization jihad, don't like America, cultivate a climate where you have several hundred thousand people that downright support terrorism as a form of fulfilling their jihad,” says Horowitz.

In light of this looming threat, the SAVE Act is “so small potatoes,” he argues, calling it “an idolatrous bill“ that ignores the real problem.

“It's illegals being counted in the census, noncitizens being counted in the census, bringing in mass waves of people that become citizens and legally vote Democrat. That is a much bigger issue than the actual illegal voting,” Horowitz declares.

“Having Hezbollah, Hamas, Shabab, and Al-Qaeda-supporting Muslims in the millions in this country is a much bigger deal than the freaking SAVE Act,” he continues.

But stricter vetting isn’t the answer, he says.

Citing his interview with former Muslim Danny Burmawi, Horowitz contends that Islam is “not a religion” so much as it’s “a state” with its own “system of governance.”

Unlike in the Middle East, where governments often have to limit or modify strict Islamic practices to keep the state functional and avoid total dysfunction, Muslim immigrants in the West are free to express support for jihad and terrorism.

“We're trying to run our state, and they're able to actually implement a full unfettered, unadulterated Islamic state within the confines of our state. And that's how you have a greater concentration of jihad now in the West than you have even in the East,” says Horowitz.

Instead of focusing on the SAVE Act, he argues that the GOP’s attention should be fixated on “[shutting] off the new flow” of Muslim migrants and denaturalizing and deporting those here legally who support foreign terrorists.

“The Constitution is not a suicide pact,” he declares. “States are going to have to say no to mass migration — illegal and legal.”

To hear more of Horowitz’s in-depth breakdown, watch the full episode above.

NYC Voters Elect Communist Zohran Mamdani As Next Mayor

Furthering the Big Apple’s descent into communism, New York City voters elected radical Democrat Zohran Mamdani to be their next mayor on Tuesday. According to several media outlets, the Ugandan-born Mamdani is projected to defeat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the race to lead one of America’s most populous […]

Rapper thanks Trump for defending Nigerian Christians; president threatens to 'completely wipe out' their jihadi attackers



Nigeria is a fast-growing country with an estimated population of over 239 million. According to the CIA Worldbook's 2018 estimate, roughly 53.5% of the Nigerian population is Muslim and roughly 45.9% of the population is Christian.

Despite being over 100 million strong, Nigeria's Christian population faces brutal persecution at the hands of radical Muslim groups.

President Donald Trump, who vowed ahead of the 2024 election to "protect persecuted Christians," made abundantly clear over the weekend that those now savaging the followers of Christ in Nigeria may soon reap the whirlwind, courtesy of the U.S. military.

While the Nigerian regime has decried Trump's efforts to prevent further bloodshed, others have celebrated the American president's interest in resolving yet another conflict — including Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, who thanked Trump and his team on Saturday.

Background

The Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors now ranks Nigeria as the seventh-worst place for Christians in the world, noting that "Christians are particularly at risk from targeted attacks by Islamist militants, including Fulani fighters, Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province)."

According to the watchdog, over 4,100 Christians were killed for their faith between October 2022 and September 2023 alone — an average of 11 Christians slaughtered every day. During that same period studied by Open Doors, over 3,300 Nigerian Christians were abducted. The situation appears to have grown more dire in the years since.

RELATED: Nigerian Christians are being murdered by Islamic radicals. This congressman has had enough.

Photo by OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP via Getty Images

A report issued in August by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law indicated that Fulani fighters and other jihadists massacred over 7,000 Christians in the first seven months of this year.

While some academics have warned against grouping the mass-killing Fulani herder-militant groups with other Islamist outfits targeting Christians — claiming their attacks are instead driven by economics or climate — the Fulani attacks appear to have a religious motive as well.

Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern and a leading expert on religious persecution, told Blaze News earlier this year that like Boko Haram, the Fulani militants, a group of traditionally nomadic cattle herders seeking greater grazing lands for their livestock, "are also driven by Islam's practice of using violence to subjugate territories to Islam. In fact, the Fulanis are the driving force behind radical Islam's massive land-grab of a huge swath of Africa known as the Sahel. They are motivated by a desire to rebuild a caliphate they had built in the 1700s and 1800s."

The persecution of Christians by the Fulani militants and other radical Muslim groups has reportedly worsened since Bola Ahmed Tinubu became Nigeria's president in 2023.

Taking action

Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) and other lawmakers, confronted with indications that the situation is worsening for Nigeria's Christians, have called on the Trump administration to take action.

"Since Boko Haram's insurgency in 2009, more than 50,000 Christians have been murdered and more than 5 million have been displaced. Just this year, a priest was kidnapped and murdered on Ash Wednesday. 54 Christians were martyred on Palm Sunday," Moore noted early last month. "At least 250 priests have been attacked or killed in the last decade. More than 19,000 churches have been attacked or destroyed since 2009 — averaging three per day."

Moore, who indicated that elements of the Nigerian regime have reportedly been involved in recent anti-Christian attacks, asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. Evidently the administration similarly feels strongly about the matter.

'If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet.'

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he was applying the designation and asked Reps. Moore and Tom Cole (R-Okla.) along with the House Appropriations Committee to immediately look into the matter.

"Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter," wrote Trump. "I am hereby making Nigeria a 'COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN' — But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!"

The CPC designation is applied under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to nations engaged in severe violations of religious freedom. The designation can carry with it significant economic and diplomatic consequences.

Nigeria was previously slapped with the designation by the first Trump administration in 2020, but this was subsequently lifted by the Biden administration.

RELATED: Bill Maher's shocking defense of Christians — and what it reveals

Aftermath of a terrorist attack on a Catholic Church in southwest Nigeria. AFP/Getty Images

Nicki Minaj was among those who celebrated Trump's decision, stating, "Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God."

"No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion," said the rapper.

"Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice. Thank you to The President & his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer."

Republican Reps. Moore, Cole, and Mario Díaz-Balart (Fla.) noted in a joint statement, "With President Trump announcing he will be redesignating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, the United States is making clear in one resolute voice: religious persecution will not be tolerated. The scourge of anti-Christian violence and oppression of other religious minorities by radical Islamic terrorists is an affront to religious freedom. This is a critical step in mobilizing leadership and attention to confront evil extremism."

Just in case the designation wasn't enough, Trump threatened a military intervention in the event that the Nigerian regime fails to protect Christians.

"If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, 'guns-a-blazing,' to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday evening.

"I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!" added the president.

Fresh off blowing an apparent narco-trafficking vessel to smithereens, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed the Department of War was "preparing for action."

— (@)

The promise of a reckoning clearly made officials over in the Nigerian capital of Abuja nervous.

President Tinubu rushed out a statement on Saturday claiming that his nation "stands firmly as a democracy governed by constitutional guarantees of religious liberty.

"The characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians," wrote Tinubu. "Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so. Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Nigerian Christians are being murdered by Islamic radicals. This congressman has had enough.



Republican Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana is leading the charge alongside Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to protect Nigerian Christians who are being persecuted and slain by jihadist groups.

Stutzman introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act on Tuesday in the House, an identical companion bill to Cruz's legislation, Blaze News learned. This legislation is in response to the "rapidly deteriorating" conditions for Christians in Nigeria, who are being abducted, targeted, and murdered by the tens of thousands.

'We must use the targeted tools we have at our disposal.'

Stutzman's bill would protect Christians by placing targeted sanctions on Nigerian officials who facilitate violence and enforce Sharia law against religious minorities, according to the bill text obtained exclusively by Blaze News. The bill would also designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern and ensure that the jihadist militant groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa remain designated as entities of particular concern.

"It is the responsibility of the United States to protect religious freedom worldwide," Stutzman told Blaze News. "Implementing Sharia law and condoning the murder of innocent people is barbaric."

RELATED: Nigerian Christians face latest massacre by militant Muslims

Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

"We must use the targeted tools we have at our disposal to combat religious violence in all its forms," Stutzman told Blaze News. "I am proud to partner with Senator Cruz to introduce this important legislation, which will create real consequences for those responsible for violence and save the lives of thousands of Christians who are facing persecution."

Since the jihadist group Boko Haram launched its insurgency in 2009, over 125,000 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered. In just 2025 alone, these jihadists have reportedly murdered over 7,000 Christians and abducted an additional 7,800, destroying roughly 100 churches every month.

"Nigerian Christians are being targeted and executed for their faith by Islamist terrorist groups, and are being forced to submit to Sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria," Cruz said in a statement.

RELATED: Blaze News investigates: Why are Islamists targeting Catholic priests?

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"It is long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities, and my Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act uses new and existing tools to do exactly that," Cruz added. "I urge my colleagues to advance this critical legislation expeditiously."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Biggest Obstacle To Trump’s Israel-Hamas Peace Deal Is Jihadi Ideology

Despite a new plan, the president’s ultimate ambitions could be threatened by the many challenges inherent to the Gaza conflict.

Biden FBI Called White Supremacy ‘Most Persistent, Lethal Threat’ Before Islamist Terrorism Attack

In an outrageous act of political malpractice, Biden decided to hunt down perceived political threats that questioned his administration.

Without A Reckoning, The First U.S. Terror Attack Caused By Open Borders Won’t Be The Last

Americans deserve a full-scale investigation into what happened in Chicago and how to prevent the next open-borders-enabled attack on U.S. soil.

Check out Trump’s incredibly effective plan to keep jihadists AND their sympathizers OUT of America



Biden’s open-border policies have allowed innumerable criminals and terrorists into our country, leaving many Americans feeling fearful. Add to that Hamas’ barbaric invasion of Israel and pro-Palestine rallies on American turf, and citizens want to know how our leadership plans to keep the American people safe from terrorism.

Luckily, Donald Trump has a plan, and according to Pat Gray, it’s “brilliant.”

The plan is called “Agenda 47,” and it will “reinstate and expand Trump travel bans on entry from terror-plagued countries, territories, and places,” reports Pat.

“Let's back off allowing Saudis into our country, Yemenis into our country, people from Kuwait – you don't know what their intent is,” says Pat.

Jeffy agrees and adds that “all the other countries surrounding Israel and Gaza” are certainly “[not] opening up their gates for the Palestinians.”

“There’s a reason for that,” responds Pat, adding, “They don’t trust them either.”

The second part of Agenda 47 involves “[reimplementing] a full suspension of State Department Refugee resettlement that would include Gaza,” as well as “[implementing] strong ideological screening for all immigrants to the United States – sympathy for jihadists, Hamas, or Hamas ideology will be automatically disqualifying.”

“That just makes sense,” says Pat.

Thirdly, Agenda 47 will aim to “aggressively deport resident aliens with jihadist sympathies” and “revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and anti-Semitic foreigners at colleges and universities.”

Trump’s plan will also “proactively send ICE to pro-jihadist demonstrations to enforce our immigration laws and remove the violators from our country, continue and expand denaturalization of criminals, terrorists, and immigration cheats … and finally invoke the Alien Enemies Act to accelerate domestic deportations.”

Agenda 47 “ doesn’t seem radical to me; it just seems like common sense,” says Pat.


Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Trump Releases ‘Agenda47 to Keep Jihadists Out of America'
play icon

Trump Releases ‘Agenda47 to Keep Jihadists Out of America'