Trump's threat to Nigeria comes after rare Nicki Minaj praise; ‘Christians are facing…’ | Hindustan Times – Hindustan Times

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President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened Nigeria with military action. In a post on Truth Social, the 79-year-old said that he has asked Pete Hegseth and the Defense Department to prepare for possible ‘fast’ military action in the West African country if it fails to crack down on the killing of Christians.
Even before his declaration, Trump received support from an unexpected source – hitmaker and rapper Nicki Minaj.
“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,” Trump wrote in a post on Friday. “The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world!”
Minaj was quick to praise Trump. “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. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other,” she wrote on social media.
Trump warned that he ‘will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria’.
“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,” the president posted on social media.
“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!”
Earlier in the day, Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said that the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality.
“Religious freedom and tolerance have been a core tenet of our collective identity and shall always remain so,” Tinubu said. “Nigeria opposes religious persecution and does not encourage it. Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.”
Nigeria’s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.
(With AP inputs)

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