Trump Foreign Policy

Kaduna police, after initially dismissing reports as "rumors," have formally acknowledged simultaneous attacks on three churches in the Kajuru area in which more than 160 Christians were abducted—state lawmaker Usman Danlami Stingo put the toll at 177 abducted (11 escaped, 168 still missing)—and rights groups say military and local officials blocked fact‑finding teams while Amnesty International condemned the government’s earlier denials. Separately, the Nigerian army said it rescued 62 hostages in a Zamfara raid and killed two militants in an ambush along the Kebbi–Sokoto border, though officials say it is unclear whether any of the freed captives are among those taken from the churches.

Top U.S. Catholic cardinals issued a joint statement urging the Trump administration to ground its foreign policy in a moral compass, warning that America's role in confronting evil, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty is "under examination." They cite Pope Leo XIV’s Jan. 9 speech — which warned that diplomacy based on consensus is being replaced by "diplomacy based on force" and that "war is back in vogue" — as inspiration, and Cardinal Blase Cupich added that as pastors they "cannot stand by while decisions are made that condemn millions to lives trapped permanently at the edge of existence."