US President, Donald Trump escalated his criticism of Nigeria on Friday night, November 21, publicly branding the country “a disgrace” as he renewed accusations that the government is failing to protect Christians from extremist violence.

Speaking on a conservative radio program, Trump repeated his threat to take potential military action against Islamist militants in Nigeria if the government does not take “do more” to stop attacks on Christian communities.

“Nigeria is a disgrace. The whole thing is a disgrace,” Trump said. “They’re killing people by the thousands. It’s a genocide, and I’m really angry about it. And we pay, you know, we give a lot of subsidies to Nigeria. We’re going to end up stopping.”

Trump’s comments reinforce the administration’s narrative that Christians in Nigeria are being uniquely targeted, a claim that has gained significant traction in right-wing circles in the US. This perspective is applied despite the country’s complex history of ethnoreligious conflict in which both Christians and Muslims have suffered mass casualties from various armed groups and terrorists.