Donald Trump’s fiery threat to punish Nigeria over attacks on Christians exposes not a moral crusade, but the latest case of Washington’s selective outrage—where religion becomes a campaign prop and geopolitics decides whose suffering matters.
Protecting Christians in Nigeria is a good deed; however, why not in other parts of the world, such as Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon?
Lots to unpack here, but first, as the headline reads, Why has Trump threatened to attack Nigeria ‘guns-blazing’?
Country of Concern!
“It will be fast, vicious, and sweet, and if the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria. We are going to do things to Nigeria that Nigeria is not going to be happy about, and we may very well go into that now-disgraced country guns a-blazing to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible, horrible atrocities.” Trump said.
Even Ted Cruz, a US Senator, is in support, claiming there is no country where Christians are more persecuted than Nigeria, and goes on to explain that since 2009 more than 50,000 Christians have been murdered by Boko Haram and other radical Islamic extremists. And more than 20,000 churches and schools have been burned to the ground.
The facts are what they are; however, why do Trump and Cruz only focus on the plight of Christians in Nigeria? Regardless of the number of Christians killed, which appears high, the Nigerian government tells another story, given the number of Muslims also killed and how recent external claims suggest systemic persecution of Christians in Nigeria are unfounded.
An official spokesperson tells how the designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern based on speculations of religious persecution is fundamentally misinformed. But why would this be the case, and why have US officials been so misinformed?
U.S. Double Standards in Addressing Religious Persecution Amid Geopolitical Priorities
It is as if the US election has already started, as many of the claims to protect Christians and the numbers of Christians killed are fueled by domestic US politics and the diminishing base of MAGA, even among the born-again evangelical Christian voters, who also happen to be some of the staunchest Zionists. They may feel that the persecution of Christians has not been given enough attention; however, they are still not talking about the persecution and murder of Christians by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank, including ethnic cleansing, rapes, bombings, and so on.
I doubt if they even know that many Palestinians are Christians, and if you were to tell them, they would refuse to believe it. Why the selective focus on Christians in Nigeria and not in other conflict zones (Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, etc.)? I guess not all Christian blood merits the same value, and political expediency is in the forefront! It is worth mentioning that the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede, pointed out that the country faced terrorism, not persecution of Christians, and the Nigerian presidency has said it would welcome U.S. help in fighting Islamist insurgents as long as the country’s territorial integrity is respected.
Apparently memories are too short—memories and worldviews of convenience, at least for the American political class. So much money is to be made by the wrong people, Trump’s people, if the US president makes good talk about taking back the airbase in Afghanistan; it starts all over again—and with a vengeance, making up for lost money.
But why? Nigeria, a friend of the US, is fighting a practical religious war between the Muslim North and Christian South, with a total population of 230 million in the US crosshairs. I guess Nigeria is politically “easier” for Washington to talk tough about. Firstly, it is not a strategically vital ally, such as the proverbial land-based aircraft carrier that Israel is for the US, and threatening to go after Boko Haram, if that terrorist group even exists, does not threaten US geopolitical interests.
This caters to the so-called MAGA-based, born-again Christians and conservatives for whom anyone who is willing to protect persecuted Christians is the good guy, which would include Trump and team. It is morality with low cost, i.e., opportunity costs, and deep down, when push comes to shove, everybody knows that the US is just blowing smoke out its ass.
On the other hand, take Gaza. Not so many Christians, likely less than a few thousand remaining, and already most of their Churches and community buildings and schools have already been destroyed or highly damaged, and the current administration repeatedly says there is no time to cry over spilled milk. Many nuns and clergy have already been killed. Washington and most international organizations are silent about this, and the motivation is clear: not to rock the boat and attract the wrath of the Zionists.
Even when the male-on-male rapes of Palestinian detainees, both Christian and Muslim, by the IDF are documented, the world turns a blind eye, and the whistleblower, an Israeli military officer of high rank, is arrested for having provided bad PR. It is the same MO as in Syria: principles are to be talked about but not practiced, as US foreign policy is based on strategic interests rather than even-keeled moral consistency.
What is happening or claimed to be the situation on the ground in Nigeria should be a wake-up call. Why are Trump and his team not listening to Christian leaders and organizations, both Catholic and Protestant—as they have condemned this double standard and even noted how the US turns a blind eye to the way the leadership of Ukraine and Armenia are cracking down on their churches that don’t want to be under the political control of the West, as they want to maintain their independence and moral authority?
The same attempts have been made in Georgia, so far without success, to divide the Church and alienate believers over the differences between Western and local values. These include trumped-up stories in Western-funded media full of false allegations of corruption or “pro-Russian” clergy, direct attacks by the US embassy on the Georgian Church for its opposition to the US push for LGBTQ+ propaganda in schools, and so on.
Despite Trump’s claims to defend Christians, the policies of the US remain inimical to traditional Christian values. Something lost on the average American, whose Evangelical Protestantism has little to do with actual Christianity.
U.S. / Western Double Standards Toward Persecuted or Pressured Christians
Across different regions, the pattern of how the United States and its Western allies respond to the persecution of Christians reveals a striking inconsistency driven by political expediency and strategic interests. In Nigeria, where tens of thousands of Christians have been killed by Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani militants, Washington often issues strong statements and even hints at sanctions or military action—a stance that plays well with U.S. evangelical voters and carries little geopolitical cost. By contrast, in Palestine and Gaza, where Christian communities suffer displacement, property loss, and even church bombings under Israeli military actions, American officials largely remain silent or shift blame toward Hamas, reflecting the political sensitivities of criticizing a close ally.
In Syria, ancient Christian populations were devastated during the war, yet Washington framed their suffering as part of a broader civil conflict, avoiding explicit mention of anti-Christian violence—likely because U.S.-backed rebel groups were also implicated. A similar ambiguity marks Lebanon, where economic collapse and sectarian imbalance have eroded Christian influence; here, the U.S. offers little more than routine sanctions and generalized concern, unwilling to confront the complex regional web that includes Israel and Gulf states.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Western powers have supported the 2018 Orthodox Church split—a move that weakened Moscow’s influence—under the banner of national sovereignty, turning religious division into a geopolitical instrument. Armenia’s Christians, displaced or killed after Azerbaijan’s 2023 offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, receive only muted sympathy from the West, as Baku’s energy and security partnerships take precedence over moral outrage. In contrast, when China persecutes underground Catholic and Protestant communities, the U.S. is vocally condemnatory, imposing sanctions and invoking human rights as part of its rivalry with Beijing. The same selective silence appears in Ethiopia and Eritrea, where attacks on churches and clergy during the Tigray war are downplayed because the region remains a strategic ally.
Taken together, these cases illustrate how faith becomes a tool of convenience in Western policy—amplified when it targets rivals, ignored when it implicates friends.
Broader Implications
Washington’s sudden moral awakening over the plight of Christian is less a crusade of justice; it is a campaign ad with foreign subtitles. Trump’s “guns-blazing” threats against Nigeria to combat groups like Boko Haram are but part of the rhetoric—the rhetoric is politically expedient rather than anything close to principled. It sounds righteous until you notice the timing and the audience: evangelical voters at home, not grieving families.
This is likely one of the worst forms of moral corruption, with financial undercurrents. We must not forget the words of former Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, as mentioned in a Washington Post article about 10 years ago. He was the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, who had praised many of the business arrangements between U.S. forces and the locals “as promoting local entrepreneurship,” and by any other means, setting up a system of corruption that would make the Italian mafia look like a schoolboy setting up a hubcap-stealing ring.
The Washington Post explained back then how the U.S. military was funding a massive protection racket, religious mafia, and even funding the enemy. But who cares now? CVs have been rewritten, and former enemies in places like Afghanistan and Syria are now the best of friends, where the most wanted terrorists were once holed up! But now with friendship comes new money-making opportunities, albeit via corruption and the betrayal of fundamental values.
I forget who said it, BUT some Great General of history once said of his enemy, “The only thing that I can respect in my enemy is his incorruptibility.”
I would add, moral fortitude!
Seth Ferris, investigative journalist and political scientist, expert on Middle Eastern affairs
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