President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy troops to Nigeria or launch air strikes to halt what he described as the mass killing of Christians in the country.

Asked on Sunday if he envisioned troops on the ground or air strikes in Nigeria, Mr Trump told reporters that he was considering several military options to protect Christians in Nigeria.

“Could be. I mean, other things. I envisage a lot of things,” Mr Trump said when asked if he was considering ground troops or air strikes. “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.”

The U.S. president made the comments while returning to Washington from his weekend retreat in Florida. 

His warning followed a renewed threat on Saturday that the United States would take military action if the Nigerian government failed to stop the violence against Christians.

Mr Trump’s remarks came shortly after his administration redesignated Nigeria as a ‘country of particular concern’,  a U.S. designation for nations accused of violating religious freedoms. Other countries on the list are China, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, in an earlier post on Truth Social, Mr Trump had threatened to halt all aid to Nigeria and hinted at possible military intervention if the alleged killings continued.

“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,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Mr Trump wrote.

“I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. 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!”

Meanwhile, there is a likelihood of President Bola Tinubu and Mr Trump meeting to discuss the alleged genocidal killing of Christians, according to a presidential spokesman.