President Donald Trump bucked himself up after the GOP’s humiliating electoral defeats by posting a video message to a key ally threatening to invade with “guns a-blazing.”
The president—who keeps greenlighting new military campaigns despite lobbying for the Nobel Peace Prize—reportedly became enraged after watching a Fox News segment that focused on the apparent persecution of Christians in Nigeria.
If the Nigerian government doesn’t “move fast” to stop Islamic terrorists from killing Christians, “There’s going to be hell to pay,” Trump said in a video posted to Truth Social.
“We’re going to do things to Nigeria that Nigeria is not going to be happy about, and may very well go into that now-disgraced country gun a-blazing to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible, horrible atrocities,” he said from behind a lectern.
The Fox News report largely ignored the fact that Islamic militant groups, such as Boko Haram and a regional ISIS faction, have killed far more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria.
Since watching the broadcast aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump has posted multiple messages saying he has directed the Department of Defense—which the Trump administration has rebranded the Department of War—to “prepare for possible action.”
A small group of personnel from U.S. Africa Command was recalled from their headquarters in Germany to discuss contingency plans, according to CNN.
“If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our cherished Christians,” Trump said in Wednesday’s video. “These are cherished people. These are great people. Leave them alone.”
The video was posted a day after Trump’s preferred candidates lost key state and local races across the country, including gubernatorial contests in Virginia and New Jersey, and the race for New York City mayor.
California voters also approved a major congressional redistricting measure to combat the president’s gerrymandering effort in Texas.
Nigeria is a secular democracy whose population is almost evenly split between Muslims and Christians.
As the largest economy and most populous country in Africa—a continent Trump once described as made up of “s–thole countries”—Nigeria is a crucial U.S. ally for regional peacekeeping.
It’s also a major destination for U.S. foreign investment in the petroleum, mining, and wholesale trade sectors. It has historically received sizable economic, humanitarian, and anti-terrorism assistance, according to the U.S. State Department.
Bayo Onanuga, a spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, told CNN the government was “shocked” that Trump was “mulling” an invasion.
Nigerian officials have tried since Trump’s first term in office to explain that the country’s security situation is more complicated than just religious persecution, which is sometimes used as a pretext for economically motivated attacks.
The country has long struggled with deep-rooted security problems exacerbated by communal and ethnic tensions, along with disputes between farmers and herders over limited access to natural resources, according to CNN.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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