Trump Escalates Tension With Nigeria as U.S. Africa Command Drafts Possible Strike Options
STORY: WRITTEN BY ZARA NOVEMBER 6,2025
U.S. President Donald Trump has reignited a diplomatic storm with Africa’s largest economies, issuing a fresh warning to Nigeria over Islamist insurgency and dismissing South Africa’s place in the G20 just days before it hosts world leaders.
In a new video posted on his Truth Social account, Trump criticized the Nigerian government for “failing to stop Islamic militants” killing Christians in the northern region. He claimed he has directed the Pentagon to prepare for “possible military intervention” if Nigeria does not act swiftly.
“The Nigerian government better move fast before it’s too late,” he said. “If they don’t, there will be hell to pay.”
His remarks followed a New York Times report that U.S. Africa Command has presented Washington with three plans for an attack on Nigerian territory. According to three defense officials, the proposals include “light, medium and heavy” options designed to escalate depending on Nigeria’s response.
The lightest strategy would involve U.S. forces providing intelligence and support to help Nigerian troops go after Boko Haram and other extremist groups responsible for mass killings, abductions and raids in the northern region—violence that has persisted for nearly two decades.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu responded that Nigeria remains committed to working with the United States and global partners to protect all religions, noting that his wife is a Christian pastor while he is Muslim.
However, Tinubu rejected Trump’s portrayal of Nigeria as anti-Christian:
“The characterization of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality,” he said.
Nigeria, home to more than 230 million people and split almost evenly between Christians and Muslims, has lost more than 20,000 lives to various forms of communal and ethnic violence since 2020. Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project shows that most of the nearly 12,000 recorded attacks were not driven by religious motives.
Trump’s earlier warnings rattled investor confidence, triggering a brief sell-off in Nigerian bonds, yet the country still raised $2.35 billion on international markets this week with investor orders exceeding $12 billion.
The U.S. president also took aim at South Africa, insisting it no longer belongs in the G20. South Africa is set to host the forum on Nov. 22–23, but Trump says he will not attend, sending Vice President JD Vance instead.
“South Africa shouldn’t even be in the Gs anymore,” Trump said during a business event in Miami. “What’s happened there is bad.”
Trump has previously pushed a debunked narrative claiming White Afrikaner farmers were being exterminated in South Africa, even offering them refugee status in the U.S.
