Nigeria confirmed it gave the US intelligence ahead of the military strikes on Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria on Christmas Day. Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told ChannelsTV he spoke twice with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio before the operation. Tuggar said, "We spoke twice. We spoke for 19 minutes before the strike and then we spoke again for another five minutes before it went on." The Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, gave the green light to the strikes, Tuggar added. The minister said these strikes will be part of an ongoing effort involving other countries. US President Donald Trump announced the strikes on his Truth Social platform, calling the militants "ISIS Terrorist Scum" targeting Christians. He said, "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." Trump said the US forces executed "numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing." Trump had earlier promised a "guns-a-blazing" intervention in Nigeria, criticizing the Nigerian government for failing to stop attacks on Christians by Islamist groups.