What’s the Right US Response to Mass Killings of Christians in Africa? New Report Calls for ‘Real Action’

President Donald Trump is drawing attention to the persecution of Christians in Africa, which has created a moment of “leverage” and momentum for “real action,” according to a new report from The Heritage Foundation.

“Human rights attacks against Christians occur too often, though [they] escape mainstream America, given unfamiliarity, distance, and competing priorities,” Ned Rauch-Mannino, a visiting fellow for The Heritage Foundation’s Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for National Security, wrote in the report.

The persecution of Christians in Africa is not new. In Nigeria, for example, radical Islamic terrorists have killed more than 50,000 Christians since 2009 alone.

“In the northern areas of Nigeria, the [Democratic Republic of the Congo’s] North Kivu and Ituri Provinces, northern Mozambique, and the Sahel, terrorist and extremist organizations deliberately target Christians for killings, beheadings, kidnappings, and church burnings in an effort to disrupt and destroy Christian communities and their influence,” according to the report.

‘Country of Particular Concern’

During his first administration, Trump designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” due to the continuous killing of Christians at the hands of Islamic militants. The Biden administration removed the designation, but last week, Trump announced he would once again add Nigeria to the list of nations of “Particular Concern.”

The U.S. Department of State designates a country as one of “particular concern” if that nation has tolerated or engaged in “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

Since the start of 2025, more than 7,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria, according to the Heritage report, more than doubling the reported killings of last year.

US Response

Trump has directed the Department of War to prepare for possible action in Nigeria in response to the violence.

“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’” Trump wrote on social media on Saturday.

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