The Washington Post praises Trump’s ISIS strikes in Nigeria targeting the military
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The Washington Post’s editorial board said the Trump administration’s military strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria were a “welcome change” and that the president would be “wise to stay involved” in the region.
In an editorial on Saturday, the Post praised President Donald Trump’s “righteous strikes” against the Islamic State branch in Nigeria’s Sahel region on Thursday, where Christians and Christian institutions have been under attack in recent months.
“A small group of President Donald Trump’s advisers wants the United States to abandon its widespread responsibilities abroad and instead become a regional power focused on the Western Hemisphere. The president’s justified strike against the Islamic State’s targets in Nigeria is a reminder that America can do more,” the editorial board argued.
On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social announcing that the US military had launched airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria on Christmas Eve targeting ISIS militants it accused of killing Christians, calling the operation “decisive” and warning of more attacks that could follow if the violence continues.
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At least 51 Christians were killed in an attack in the Plateau state of Nigeria in April 2025. (Reuters)
“Tonight, under my direction as Commander-in-Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against the ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwestern Nigeria, who have been targeting and brutally killing, in particular, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for years, even centuries!” Trump wrote on Thursday.
Although the Post supports the Trump administration’s intervention in the region, the outlet said “the question is whether this is a one-off decision or the beginning of a consistent and consistent policy.”
The editorial board noted that it understands “the desire to leave the entire region,” but raised its case for why Trump should continue his efforts in the region, a part of the world that the Post says “has always been beyond the president’s imagination.”
“The American strikes in Nigeria were aimed at the branch of the Islamic State in the Sahel region, which has been involved in violence in recent years seeking territory with JNIM, an organization under al-Qaeda which is currently trying to control Mali by preventing fuel from entering the capital Bamako,” said the report. “If Mali falls, it will be the first time an anti-Muslim terrorist group in the West has taken over a country since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.”
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According to the Post, the Sahel region, which stretches from Mauritania through Chad, has become “the world’s largest terrorist center,” and is home to half of the world’s terrorist attacks.
The Washington Post praised President Donald Trump’s “righteous strikes” against ISIS targets in Nigeria. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
After decades of war drove many terrorist groups out of areas they once controlled in Iraq and Syria, those groups “have found fertile ground in West Africa,” the report argues.
Although the board of organizers commended the intervention of the administration in the region as a positive step, it warned that without continued support, these efforts would be futile.
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As reported by the Post, the US once had a regional counterterrorism program called the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, but a recent study revealed that the program was “underfunded, leaderless and ineffective.” The outlet added that the Pentagon is also considering merging the African Command back into the European Command, which was split in 2008.
This photo released by the Christian Association of Nigeria shows the bedrooms at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School after gunmen kidnapped children and staff in Papiri community in Nigeria, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Christian Association of Nigeria via AP)
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“Nigeria, the richest country in the region, is still struggling with insecurity in many areas. The central government has not succeeded in restoring security. It is good that Abuja is willing to work closely with Washington to stop the killings, and Trump would be wise to keep making promises,” the document concluded.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
