Trump tells Department of Defense to ‘prepare for possible action’ in Nigeria – NBC Los Angeles

President Donald Trump on Saturday said he has instructed the Defense Department to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria over the country’s alleged killing of 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 wrote on social media.

“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!” Trump added.

Trump’s announcement comes a day after he categorized Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” a designation the U.S. gives countries the government deems as engaging in “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” Other countries on the list include China, Cuba and North Korea.

The Nigerian government issued a statement Saturday after the designation, saying it remained committed to tackling what it called “violent extremism.”

“Like America, Nigeria has no option but to celebrate the diversity that is our greatest strength. Nigeria is a God-fearing country where we respect faith, tolerance, diversity and inclusion, in concurrence with the rules-based international order,” Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Trump during his first term declared Nigeria a country of particular concern, an action that former President Joe Biden’s administration undid in 2021, when former Secretary of State Antony Blinken found the country “did not meet the criteria” to be included in the CPC list.

President Donald Trump said that Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro doesn’t want to mess around with the United States, following a series of strike against alleged Venezuelan drug cartel boat in international waters.