The United States President, Donald Trump, has personally written to President Bola Tinubu, praising what he described as the Nigerian leader’s “decisive leadership” and publicly confirming for the first time that US Special Operations Forces, including the elite Navy SEAL Team 6, have been deployed to train Nigerian troops in the country’s counterterrorism campaign.
The letter, dated 6 July 2026 and released on Wednesday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, offers the clearest acknowledgement yet of the expanding US military role in Nigeria as both governments deepen security cooperation against Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In the letter, Trump thanked Tinubu for his correspondence and commended his administration’s efforts to confront insecurity.
“Your kind words mean a great deal to me, and I appreciate your decisive leadership on behalf of the Nigerian people,” Trump wrote.
He added: “I applaud your resolve to tackle the issues plaguing your nation, especially the violence affecting Christian communities, and it is a true honour to stand with you in the fight against terrorists and to make the Federal Republic of Nigeria stronger and more prosperous.”
Trump described the US-Nigeria relationship as increasingly important at a time of growing instability across West Africa, saying the two countries shared a common objective of defeating terrorism.
He said the 2026 US-Nigeria Defence Cooperation Roadmap had created “a robust framework” for enhanced military collaboration and revealed that Washington had deployed some of its most elite military personnel to support Nigerian forces.
“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,” he wrote.
The correspondence also sheds new light on Washington’s justification for its deeper military engagement in Nigeria. Trump linked the deployment to the protection of communities of faith, particularly Christian minorities, echoing concerns he first raised in October 2025 when he designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” over allegations of religious persecution.
The Nigerian government has consistently rejected that characterisation, insisting that insurgent attacks have affected both Christians and Muslims and are driven by terrorism rather than systematic religious persecution.
The defence roadmap cited in Trump’s letter was formalised earlier this year following the establishment of a Joint Working Group in November 2025, co-chaired by the National Security Advisers of both countries. The initiative provides for expanded intelligence sharing, joint military training and coordinated counterterrorism operations.
Its impact was evident in May when Nigerian and American forces carried out a joint operation in the Lake Chad Basin that reportedly killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISWAP’s second-in-command, alongside about 40 senior commanders during a three-hour assault on a militant enclave in Metele, Borno state.
According to a military source cited by The New York Times, the operation involved Nigerian Army commandos supported by members of US Navy SEAL Team 6. Days later, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters announced that about 175 Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters had been killed since the joint operations commenced.
The expanding partnership follows a series of US security interventions in Nigeria, including airstrikes on Lakurawa militant camps in Sokoto state during the Christmas period of 2025. Until then, Washington’s assistance had largely been limited to intelligence sharing, sanctions and military capacity-building.
Onanuga also disclosed that the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Frank Garcia, visited Abuja last week for talks with senior Nigerian officials, reaffirming Washington’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in security and other strategic sectors.
Nigeria has battled a violent Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, with Boko Haram’s declaration of a caliphate in 2014 and the subsequent emergence of ISWAP fuelling one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts. The violence has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions of people across the north-east and spread into neighbouring countries.
Tinubu declared a national security emergency in November 2025 amid escalating attacks across several parts of the country, paving the way for closer military cooperation with the United States as Abuja seeks to reverse the insurgency’s gains.
