Did US delay Nigeria strike to give ISIS a ‘Christmas present’? Here’s what Trump said

A day after US President Donald Trump ordered deadly strikes on Islamic State targets in northwestern Nigeria, he revealed that the American forces were “going to do it earlier” but were ordered to delay the attack to give them a “Christmas present”. On Thursday (Dec 25), Trump announced that the US troops carried out what he described as “powerful and deadly” strikes against ISIS targets in the West African nation, marking the first US military action in the country under his current term.

In an interview with Politico published on Friday, Trump accused the ISIS militants in Nigeria of persecuting Christians, adding that the US strikes “decimated their camps”. The US president also said that the attack was originally planned for Wednesday but was delayed one day by him for symbolic reasons.

“They were going to do it earlier,” Trump told Politico. “And I said, ‘nope, let’s give a Christmas present.’” He further added, “They didn’t think that was coming, but we hit them hard. Every camp got decimated.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s information minister said on Friday that the US used guided missiles launched from drones in the strikes conducted on Christmas.

“A total of 16 GPS-guided precision munitions were deployed using MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial platforms, successfully neutralising the targeted ISIS elements attempting to penetrate Nigeria from the Sahel corridor,” Information Minister Mohammed Idris said in a statement.

Idris added that the attack was carried out with the “full involvement of the Armed Forces of Nigeria,” with “explicit approval” from President Bola Tinubu. He added that no civilians were injured in the attacks.

“The strikes were launched from maritime platforms domiciled in the Gulf of Guinea, after extensive intelligence gathering, operational planning, and reconnaissance,” Idris said. “Debris from expended munitions fell in Jabo, Tambuwal Local Government Area of Sokoto State, and in Offa, Kwara State.”

Washington earlier released a video of projectiles being launched by a US Navy ship. The United States Africa Command confirmed that “multiple ISIS militants” were killed in the operation. No details were released on the exact locations hit or the number of casualties.

‘MERRY CHRISTMAS to dead terrorists’

Announcing the strikes, Trump had written on his Trump Social platform, “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.”