Trump caught own allies 'off guard' with military threat based on Fox News story: report
Donald Trump recently shocked his own allies with a military threat that came after the president watched a Fox New story on the topic, according to new reporting.
The Washington Post on Sunday published a new report called, "Trump’s ‘guns-a-blazing’ threat to Nigeria shocked key players, aides," in which the outlet claims that "Trump’s threat to go 'guns-a-blazing' into Nigeria concerned U.S. military officials in Africa and surprised even those who had been pushing the issue."
Raw Story reported more than a week ago that Trump threatened military action on foreign soil, escalating previous remarks about the ally.
"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," Trump said on Truth Social at the time. "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!"
The Post investigated how that threat came to be, and reported, "Trump’s threat to go 'guns-a-blazing' into Africa’s most populous country was the result of a months-long pressure campaign on behalf of Nigerian Christians by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and American evangelical leaders — but it surprised even those who had been pushing the issue."
The report continued:
"The threat caught many off guard and generated immediate concern within United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), which directs American military operations across the continent. Leaders told the Pentagon they had other priorities, according to three people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations. One of those familiar said AFRICOM also communicated that striking a region with limited U.S. presence and intelligence was unlikely to make a difference."
Referring to Trump's new priority as "seemingly out of the blue," the report states that "the president’s initial post followed a meeting in Washington between his top advisers and members of the faith community, and after he watched a Fox News segment on the topic aboard Air Force One, according to three people with knowledge of the situation."
"The push to make the issue an administration priority was long in the making, the people said, but the president’s threat of military action was entirely unexpected," the report states.
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