The United States new 2026 National Counterterrorism Strategy released on Wednesday has introduced a new Nigeria doctrine that elevated the issue of alleged Nigerian Christian genocide from a religious freedom concern to a counterterrorism (CT) mission.
President Donald Trump, who signed a Presidential Forward to the 16-page document signed on May 6, 2026, lists two American goals in Africa under one heading, as one mission: The first is to guarantee that none of the Jihadi groups can build a base of operations that allows them to plot and execute attacks against the United States and American interests around the world. The second is to protect Christians, who have been slaughtered at the hands of these Jihadi groups.
Under the new strategy, the United States will maintain a “light military” presence in Africa while expecting regional and nearby partners like Nigeria to accept a greater portion of the CT burden, share effective intelligence, and degrade common threats as they arise.
According to the new U.S. 2026 National Counterterrorism Strategy: “In Africa, we have two clear goals that depart from the nation-building and interventionist policies of the past. The first is to guarantee that none of the Jihadi groups can build a base of operations that allows them to plot and execute attacks against the United States and American interests around the world. The second is to protect Christians, who have been slaughtered at the hands of these Jihadi groups.
After decades of forever wars that did not serve the interests of the American people, we are set on bringing home our troops and downsizing our global footprint. This, however, does not mean we will ignore threat groups in Africa capable of External Operations which seek to attack our interests. We are rebuilding bilateral CT relations with African governments who had been ignored or insulted by Biden-era neocolonial policies focused on globalist left-wing cultural hegemony.
“We will continue to work together with governments threatened by groups like ISIS and al Qaeda affiliates who threaten us as well, and assist them with actionable intelligence and CT partner-force development until our
shared foes no longer pose a serious threat to either them or us. Wherever possible, we will marry such
CT cooperation with the stabilizing effect of heightened trade and commercial relations, as witnessed
by President Trump’s historic peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
– an example of how security is a prerequisite for prosperity.
“We will also continue to use our breadth of tools for designating and targeting global terror networks and FTOs operating in Africa, such as the designation of the Sudanese and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Secondly, the plight of the most persecuted people on Earth has been ignored for too long.
“While America is not a neocolonial power set on shaping African nations in its image, we will not permit
terrorist groups operating on the continent to massacre Christians with impunity. With the decisive action President Trump recently took in Nigeria, he made it clear that the slaughter of Christians will not go unchecked. As President Trump said on Christmas Day in 2025: “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.”
“In Africa, we will maintain a light military footprint and expect regional and nearby partners to accept a greater portion of the CT burden, share effective intelligence, and degrade common threats as they arise. African nations have almost limitless potential, but only if their governments exercise sovereign control over their territory and close space to terrorists and violent extremists.”
Former Republican Mayor of Blanco, Texas, Mike Arnold, who has become active on Nigerian issues, the new U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy, This is “one enemy. Two fronts of the same war. This is not religious freedom language. It is counterterrorism doctrine. Counterterrorism doctrine moves missiles. The killers of Christians in Plateau and the killer of U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah at Old Dominion are now officially the same enemy.
“President Tinubu: Your $10+ million Washington lobbying operation and no-bid contracts did not keep this off the President’s desk. Your Bush Boys and shambassadors did not make it go away. Your “brothers” and “prodigal sons” framing did not survive contact with the truth. The Christian dead you deny have been named.
“Sultan of Sokoto: Your throne sits in the epicenter of a long running jihad the United States has now identified as a global security concern. I have called on the Trump administration to launch an investigation into your role in all of this. Looks like it’s coming your way.
“Sheikh Gumi: Your long running lovefest “negotiations“ with your bands of bloody Islamic savages have just been rejected, in writing, by the government of the United States.
“Boko Haram, ISWAP, the Fulani militias: You are now recognized as a direct threat to the United States. You met cruise missiles on Christmas Day. Expect more.
“For years, I have felt like I was the only American voice pushing this argument hard and consistently. On March 6, 2026, I published a memorandum to President Trump titled Nigeria — The Biggest Win on the Board, encouraging this policy shift. I made the same case the central thesis of my number-one Amazon bestseller, EPICENTER: Nigeria, Radical Islam, and the War for Global Order. I delivered it, unvarnished, at my viral congressional briefing two weeks ago.
“Here’s the truth: The Nigerian jihad has raged since 1804. Same throne, same tribe, same tactics, same results: death, rape, slavery, destruction and displacement. As many as six million killed. Ten million enslaved. Twenty-five million displaced. The longest continuous genocide on the face of the earth.
“The men running it have not hidden their ambition: Total Sharia across Nigeria, then global. The Trump White House just confirmed it. Hold on tight. I get the feeling things are about to get sporty. The shadow is breaking. It’s about time.”
