WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers praised President Donald Trump for what they are calling “decisive action” to approve strikes against Islamic State targets in Nigeria on Christmas Day in retaliation for previous attacks targeting Christians.
Trump announced the action in a social media post on Thursday, confirming the strikes took place in northwestern Nigeria and accusing the targets of “viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” The president did not disclose further details of the strikes and it’s unclear how many casualties there were.
But lawmakers were quick to applaud the action after months of warnings about religious persecution in the West African country.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to Islamist terrorists conducting genocide against Christians in Nigeria and nearby area,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, said in a post on X. “This military action is right. To intervene saves innocent lives. We praise our military for working around the clock to include Christmas.”
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who previously served in the Army as an infantry officer and was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, also praised the strikes against those he called “bloodthirsty ISIS savages.”
“I commend President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and our brave troops for these strikes against bloodthirsty ISIS savages who are not only persecuting Christians, but also have killed many Americans,” he wrote in a post on X.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee released a joint statement commending Trump.
“America stands firmly with our partners in eliminating the TERRORISTS who have targeted innocent Christians for extermination,” the committee wrote.
Republicans have warned for months about the possible targeting of Christians in Nigeria and have even organized congressional trips to the country to encourage stronger protections for the religious group.
Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., led a delegation to the country last weekend to meet with federal and local officials, where he said lawmakers were given “insight that some attitudes inside the Nigerian Government are beginning to turn in favor of protecting Christians.”
“As I have said previously, the US was too late in Rwanda and too late in South Sudan,” Huizenga said, referring to the well-known religious persecutions and attacks in other African countries. “This strike demonstrates the United States is taking the targeted killings in Nigeria seriously.”
Lawmakers overseeing appropriations for national security and the State Department also traveled to the country for what they called an “on-the-ground fact-finding mission to examine alarming anti-Christian violence and religious persecution.” Those appropriators are compiling a report with recommendations to increase religious protections and “destroy jihadist terrorist networks,” the members said.
“Nigeria is the most dangerous place on Earth to follow Christ, and faith and humanity must be protected,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in a joint statement with other appropriators. “Islamic terrorists will not overrule national security, religious freedom, and the right to worship. We were on the ground — we heard and saw firsthand of the failures to stop extremism and systemic violence against innocent people. These strikes send a clear and unmistakable message: America will stand with persecuted believers, confront evil, and hold terrorists accountable.”
Top lawmakers in both parties have not yet publicly responded to the attacks, and few Democrats have weighed in online.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is a member of the Congressional Military Families Caucus, denounced the strikes and accused Trump of taking “unauthorized military action.”
“Trump has repeatedly shown that he does not recognize Congress’s war powers,” Titus wrote in a post on X. “There was no briefing for nor consultation with Members of Congress. The ‘Peace President’ is on the attack again.”
The Nigerian government worked with U.S. forces to carry out the strikes and explicitly approved them, according to the Pentagon. Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar told local media he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio twice before the strikes happened and provided intelligence to the U.S. ahead of time.
Trump had repeatedly warned he would take military action if attacks on Christians continued, writing in a Truth Social post last month: “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.”
Some Nigerian officials have pushed back on the characterization that the government has “allowed” the killing of Christians, instead making clear they would work to protect all religions from violence.
“I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence,” Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in a post on X ahead of the strikes.
