Rapper Nicki Minaj recently spoke out against violence impacting Christians in Nigeria and praised President Donald Trump after he threatened possible military action over what he called the “slaughter” of religious minorities.
On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that if the Nigerian government continued to allow killings of Christians, the United States would stop aid and could enter the country “guns-a-blazing” to “wipe out the Islamic terrorists.”
“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action,” Trump wrote. “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!”
On Friday, Trump posted that “Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter” and indicated that he would have the U.S. State Department designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, a designation reserved for countries where religious persecution is tolerated.
Minaj, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago with the name Onika Tanya Maraj, responded on X with a screenshot of Trump’s post, saying it made her feel grateful to live in a country where she could freely worship.
“Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God,” she wrote.
“No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other. Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice. Thank you to The President & his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer.”
When a fan criticized her praise of Trump — writing in part, “We live in a country that wants to weaponize religion so YOUR GAY FANS can be pushed into a corner and silenced” — Minaj reportedly replied in a post that has since been deleted.
“Imagine hearing that Christians are being MURDERED & making it about you being gay,” Minaj wrote.
She continued: “When my home was swatted multiple times with my innocent toddler inside (with maybe 20 officers with guns drawn pointed at our home due to political corruption), you being gay couldn’t save me. Expecting someone to stay oppressed, abused, targeted, harassed & CONSISTENTLY ignored by public figures who were supposed to be helping them says more about you than it does anyone else.”
On Sunday, Trump reiterated the possibility of U.S. military action, telling reporters on Air Force One that he could envision “troops on the ground or air strikes.”
“Could be. I mean, other things. I envisage a lot of things. They’re killing record numbers of Christians in Nigeria. … They’re killing the Christians and killing them in very large numbers. We’re not going to allow that to happen,” he said, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu told The Associated Press on Sunday that Nigeria would not allow the U.S. to pursue unilateral military anti-terror operations in Nigeria but expressed willingness to work with the U.S. government” to deepen cooperation on protection of communities of all faiths.”
“We welcome U.S. assistance as long as it recognises our territorial integrity,” Daniel Bwala, an adviser to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, told Reuters on Sunday.
Administration allies echoed Trump’s comments.
“The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote on X. “The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
In recent decades, the West African country has been plagued by the rise of Islamic extremist groups in the northeast and radicalized herders in the Middle Belt states that have killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee.
Advocates say that Christians in Nigeria have faced ongoing attacks with minimal support from the international community and the Nigerian government. The global Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors has warned in recent years that more Christians are killed in Nigeria for their faith annually than in all other countries combined.
While some international observers say what’s happening to Christian communities in the Middle Belt states may meet the standard for religious persecution and genocide, the Nigerian government contends that such violence is not inherently religious, emanates from decades-old farmer-herder clashes and that Muslims are also being killed in large numbers.
The Nigerian government has strongly pushed back against claims of a genocide, but has also faced allegations that it has not acted adequately to protect its citizens from radicalized groups, regardless of whether there is a religious element or not.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with more than 230 million people, is roughly evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.
Attacks on Christians there attracted international attention after militants from the extremist group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 predominantly Christian schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014.
The Trump administration has faced pressure in recent months to label Nigeria a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act, the U.S.’ top designation for religious freedom violators, which can carry potential diplomatic burdens, such as sanctions.
The Biden administration lifted Nigeria’s previous CPC designation in 2021. It was designated a CPC for the first time in the final year of the first Trump administration.
The U.S.-based watchdog organization International Christian Concern said that Trump’s CPC designation “could significantly improve the lives of many Christians in Nigeria by raising awareness of the ongoing persecution and exerting pressure on the Nigerian government to take action.”
“We are deeply grateful for this important recognition,” International Christian Concern President Shawn Wright said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. “It represents a significant step toward mobilizing the global community to confront the atrocities that have devastated so many families and communities in Nigeria. Our prayer is that this designation will encourage other world leaders to follow suit and that it will lead to tangible actions that bring relief and lasting change for those suffering at the hands of violent extremists.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
