On the night of December 25, 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly” set of airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria after the group escalated attacks on Christians. The president posted the announcement on his social platform and framed the strikes as a direct response to what he described as brutal, targeted killings of innocent believers. This was not idle rhetoric — it was a commander-in-chief acting when moral clarity demanded action.
U.S. Africa Command confirmed the operation, saying the strikes were carried out at the request of Nigerian authorities and that multiple militants were killed. That cooperation matters — it shows the U.S. can project power responsibly in support of allies and vulnerable populations without getting bogged down in endless occupation. For too long, weak leadership has let terror metastasize in far-off places until it threatens Americans and our friends; tonight’s mission reversed that trend.
President Trump had warned in recent weeks that the U.S. would act if the slaughter of Christians continued, and he tasked the Pentagon to draw up options while the State Department tightened visa restrictions on some Nigerians involved in the violence. These were measured steps that culminated in decisive action — the kind of follow-through our nation sorely needs when innocent people are being murdered for their faith. Conservatives who argued for strength and moral clarity see vindication when words are matched with deeds.
Of course, the usual globalist commentators and hand-wringing media will rush to lecture about sovereignty and complexity, pointing out that violence in Nigeria hits Muslims and Christians alike and warning of unintended consequences. Those caveats have merit as policy considerations, but they cannot be cover for paralysis while slaughter continues. The proper conservative response is a calibrated, intelligence-driven campaign that dismantles terrorist networks while supporting local governance and security partners.
This action also sends a clear message to radical Islamist groups everywhere: America will protect the persecuted and will not turn a blind eye when religious minorities are butchered. Administration officials signaled the strikes were precise and effective, and U.S. leaders have indicated more operations could follow if the slaughter does not stop. Deterrence requires resolve, and the president showed that resolve when it mattered most.
Congress and the American people should stand with our men and women in uniform while demanding transparency and clear objectives from the administration going forward. We must fund the intelligence, surveillance, and partner-capacity building that prevents recurrence, and we must support measures that hold complicit local actors accountable. Now is not the time for isolationist sentiment or pious lectures from politicians who never once condemned these killings before they became a convenient headline.
That this action came on Christmas night only underscores the moral clarity at stake: when Christians are hunted for their faith, freedom-loving nations must act. President Trump’s decision to strike in defense of the persecuted reflects the America conservatives have always believed in — a nation ready to use its strength to protect the innocent and to punish those who would murder them. We should pray for the victims, back our armed forces, and insist that this administration turn a one-night strike into a sustained campaign to eradicate the ISIS presence in the region.
