Trump Designates Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, Saying Christianity Faces an Existential Threat There
On October 31, 2025, in Washington, United States, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he was designating Nigeria, in West Africa, as a Country of Particular Concern over religious freedom. The State Department's page listing Countries of Particular Concern records the move the same way: on October 31, 2025, President Trump also designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.
Trump wrote: "Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a 'COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.'" Citing figures of 3,100 Christians killed in Nigeria out of 4,476 killed worldwide for their faith, he said the United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening, and he asked Representative Riley Moore and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, among others, to investigate.
A Country of Particular Concern is a designation under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for countries whose governments have engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom, defined as systematic, ongoing and egregious violations such as torture, prolonged detention without charges or forced disappearance. The designation is made by the President, with the authority delegated to the Secretary of State.
Nigeria was previously designated a Country of Particular Concern in 2020, during Trump's first term, and was removed from the list in 2021 under the Biden administration. The October 31 announcement did not itself announce specific sanctions or aid measures.
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, with Christians and Muslims each making up roughly half the population, and its northern and central regions have long been afflicted by armed groups such as Boko Haram and by communal violence.
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：白宫北立面与北草坪，华盛顿（资料照片）。Aaron Zhu 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The north front of the White House and the North Lawn in Washington (file photo). By Aaron Zhu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
