Trump recently boasted about a strike on ISIS in a new interview, following a detailed post on Truth Social where he described the order he issued on Christmas Day.
While many people were celebrating Christmas with family on December 25, Trump’s Truth Social account was notably active.
A particularly unexpected post from Trump revealed that the US had conducted a military strike on suspected ISIS operatives in Nigeria.
In his post, Trump stated: “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.
“The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.
“May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”
On the day after Christmas, Trump elaborated on the strike and explained why it took place on the holiday.
In an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on the morning of December 26, Trump stated: “I said yesterday, ‘Hit them on Christmas Day. It will be a Christmas present.’
“We hit ISIS, who are terrible. They are butchers. We really hit them hard in different locations. They really got hit hard yesterday. They got a very bad Christmas present.”
The Nigerian government acknowledged collaborating with Washington on these strikes, which occurred in Sokoto state, near the Niger border.
The New York Post reported that the strike resulted in the deaths of ‘multiple ISIS terrorists,’ though no official number has been released.
Trump’s decision has sparked some controversy, as it is considered only a temporary solution to addressing ISIS’s presence in Nigeria.
"You cannot airstrike your way out of these security issues."
Nigerian human rights advocate Bulama Bukarti says a sustained campaign led by Nigeria is more effective for targeting terror groups, as airstrikes are a temporary measure.https://t.co/MwWrTbHmP0
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/6uhcUQprYH
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 26, 2025
Bulama Bukarti, a senior analyst in the Extremism Policy Unit at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and a human rights lawyer, spoke on Sky News about the strike.
He commented: “What you need is a sustained effort led by the Nigerian government and therefore a sustained campaign will have to put Nigeria at the center.
“Build the capacity of Nigerian security forces in terms of intelligence and logistics capacity; in terms of rapid response mechanisms, which is very limited in Nigeria; and also in terms of intelligence sharing and border security.
“One-off airstrikes even if they are successful can only do limited damage to these groups and in most cases it is only temporary.”