U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he has instructed the Department of Defense to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria, intensifying a dispute after accusing Abuja of failing to stop violence against Christians — an allegation the Nigerian government rejects.

In a lengthy social media post, Trump described what he called a “mass slaughter” of Christians in Nigeria and said the United States would “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria.” He warned the Nigerian government to “move fast,” and wrote that the U.S. “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.”

Trump added, “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action,” and vowed that any U.S. attack “will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth echoed the president on social media, posting a screenshot of Trump’s message and saying the “Department of War is preparing for action,” framing the move as a response to what he described as killings of innocent Christians and promising the U.S. would “kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

The comments follow Trump’s Friday decision to label Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act, a designation that signals U.S. findings of “systematic, ongoing, (and) egregious violations of religious freedom.” The designation and the president’s subsequent threats have provoked sharp pushback in Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu reacted on social media after the designation but before the military-threat post, saying the portrayal of Nigeria as religiously intolerant “does not reflect our national reality,” and pointing to “consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.” Tinubu said Nigeria is “working with the United States government and the international community to deepen understanding and cooperation on protection of communities of all faiths.”

Tinubu’s spokesman dismissed U.S. characterizations as exaggerated, noting that “Christians, Muslims, churches and mosques are attacked randomly.” Bayo Onanuga added that what Nigeria needs, in his view, is American military support to fight violent extremists in parts of the country — “not designation as a nation of particular concern.”

Analysts and local reports underline that violence in Nigeria has many causes. While some attacks are religiously motivated, others stem from farmer–herder clashes over scarce resources, communal and ethnic tensions, and the actions of radical Islamist groups. Both Christians and Muslims have been victimised; local reporting indicates many victims live in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north.

Spokespersons for the White House and for President Tinubu’s office did not immediately respond to further requests for comment.