Secretary of War Pete Hegseth praised President Donald Trump on Tuesday for giving the order early in his administration to protect Christians being targeted in Nigeria by Islamic militants.
“Maybe a year ago, he heard the call of Nigerian Christians who were being targeted and killed by ISIS in Nigeria. And he said, ‘Pete, I want the War Department to focus on ensuring that we do everything we can to protect those Christians,’” Hegseth explained.
“He never wavered on it,” Hegseth continued, noting that Trump remained persistent in making sure the War Department put the necessary assets in place in the region.
“And, over the last month — and there hasn’t been much coverage of this — we killed ISIS’ No. 2 in Nigeria, who was most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target the U.S. homeland,” Hegseth said. “And have since, because of the intel we’ve gathered, killed hundreds of ISIS members who were targeting and killing Christians in Nigeria, creating a whole new opportunity there.”
Hegseth credits Trump with helping protect Christians in Nigeria: pic.twitter.com/BNBtEQz1pm
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The Secretary of War concluded, “There are a lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things the president empowers the department to do on behalf of the American people that he deserves great credit for.”
The BBC reported in January, “Nigeria’s population of more than 230 million people is roughly evenly divided among Christians, who predominate in the south, and Muslims, who are mostly in the north.”
“For the past 15 years, the north-east of the country has suffered from a devastating Islamist insurgency at the hands of jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and those affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group, based in Borno state,” the outlet added.
The Roman Catholic site EWTN News reported that more Christians were killed for their faith in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined during the time period from October 2024 to September 2025, according to a report published by Open Doors, an international Christian mission that tracks global persecution and supports persecuted Christians worldwide.
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Of the 4,849 known killings of Christians worldwide, 3,490 were in Nigeria, making up 72 percent of the total.
Trump ordered air strikes on ISIS sites in Nigeria on Christmas Day last year.
He posted on Truth Social at the time, “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!”
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” he continued. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”
Trump closed, “Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper. May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”
The president told Politico at the time that the U.S. military strike was originally scheduled for the day before Christmas, but he ordered it delayed for one day for symbolic reasons.
“They were going to do it earlier,” Trump said. “And I said, ‘nope, let’s give a Christmas present.’ … They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated.”
This article originally appeared on The Western Journal and is reposted with permission.
