President Bola Tinubu received a personal letter from US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praising his “decisive leadership on behalf of the Nigerian people,” according to the presidency, ABNTV reports.
The US president also confirmed that he deployed US special operations forces, including Navy SEAL Team 6, to train Nigeria’s military in the fight against terrorists.
According to a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Trump disclosed in the letter that he had deployed US Special Operations Forces, including Navy SEAL Team 6, to train and support Nigeria’s military in the fight against terrorism.
He described the bilateral security partnership as historic.
The letter, dated July 6, 2026, publicly reveals for the first time Trump’s direct attribution of the deepening US military presence in Nigeria to what he described last October as the need to protect communities of faith, particularly Christian minorities, from jihadist violence.
In the letter, Trump wrote to Tinubu, “Dear Mr President, Thank you for your thoughtful letter. Your kind words mean a great deal to me, and I appreciate your decisive leadership on behalf of the Nigerian people.
“I applaud your resolve to tackle the issues plaguing your nation, especially the violence affecting Christian communities, and it is a true honor to stand with you in the fight against terrorists and to make the Federal Republic of Nigeria stronger and more prosperous.
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“The United States-Nigeria relationship is crucial at a time when conflict has spread across West Africa and around the world.
“We both share a mutual goal of confronting terrorism in all its forms, and our historic US-Nigeria 2026 Defense Cooperation Roadmap has established a robust framework to accomplish this feat.
“I am proud to have deployed the United States Special Operations Forces, among the most elite military units anywhere in the world, to equip the brave men and women in the Armed Forces of Nigeria with the skills, tools, and intelligence they need to protect your homeland and ensure the safety and security of citizens, particularly those of faith who have been under attack. I look forward to our continued discussions over the course of my presidency.”
The letter referenced the US-Nigeria 2026 Defense Cooperation Roadmap, which Trump described as having “established a robust framework” for the two countries’ counterterrorism collaboration.
The roadmap, formalized in 2026, was built on a Joint Working Group established by the two governments in November 2025, co-headed by the National Security Advisers of Nigeria and the United States.
The JWG subsequently agreed on joint training, intelligence sharing, and coordinated military operations.
On May 16, 2026, a joint operation in the Lake Chad Basin killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, the ISWAP second-in-command, alongside approximately 40 of his lieutenants in a nearly three-hour assault at Metele, Borno State.
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