INSIGHT: Five Major Reasons Donald Trump Angry With President Tinubu; What To Know

It is clear that the United States’ frustration with the Nigerian government goes beyond reports of genocide.

The American President, Donald Trump, and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu have been engaged in a silent conflict for some time.

Trump has often been described as a “bully,” even by prominent politicians in the U.S. and around the world, due to his lawless and reckless leadership style, as noted by Barack Obama.

Trump has expressed discomfort with President Tinubu’s body language and has been critical of certain policies.

In turn, President Tinubu retaliated against some of Trump’s decisions regarding Nigeria.

The beginning of Trump’s anger – BRICS Partnership

President Donald Trump’s anger began when Nigeria was formally admitted as a BRICS partner country in January 2025 under Brazil’s presidency.

At the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, President Bola Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to the grouping, which also includes powerhouses like Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and newer members such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Indonesia.

This comes after Brazilian president and the current chairman of BRICS, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, condemned the Trump administration’s worldwide tariff increase imposed on almost all countries around the world.

Trump was quick to respond to his Brazilian counterpart’s comments, imposing additional 10 per cent tariffs on BRICS and its partners, which he has repeatedly warned against engaging in anti-American policies.

Trump had imposed a 14 per cent reciprocity tariff on Nigeria in April 2025, which became the ninth BRICS partner country in January 2025 and additional 10 per cent over its alliance with the developing nations’ bloc. Nigeria’s affiliation with the BRICS nations further anger the American leader.

President Tinubu responded with calm, saying that his administration will remain resilient and has no fear of the trade policy direction of U.S. President Donald Trump, particularly tariffs targeting Nigerian exports.

Tinubu said, “If non-oil revenue is growing, then we have no fear of whatever Trump is doing on the other side.”

This response clearly provoked more anger from Trump.

The anger lingered more as President Donald Trump ignored Nigeria, only to invite five other African nations to discuss ” Commercial Opportunities”.

Trump hosted five African leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal at the White House to discuss “commercial opportunities” on July 9, 2025.

Nigeria was not among the nations invited, even though, the criteria for the invitation were not clear.

After hitting Nigeria with a 14% tariff, the U.S. faced similar backlash as President Tinubu retaliated with a ban on 25 American goods, leaving Trump to complain about the response.

Following the ban on 25 imported items from the United States of America to Nigeria, there were strong indications that Donald Trump’s government may retaliate by blacklisting more Nigerian products.

The development comes as the country imported about $643.1 million worth of goods from Nigeria between January and February 2025 before the implementation of the new tariffs by the Trump government.

Trump’s administration quickly criticised Nigeria’s longstanding import ban on 25 product categories, warning that the policy undermines American exporters and blocks access to one of Africa’s largest consumer markets.

Nigeria refuses to accept Venezuelan deportees from the US

Tinubu’s government again rejected Trump’s proposal of accepting deportees from the United States, distancing itself from decisions by countries like Rwanda, Eswatini and South Sudan that have agreed to receive foreign nationals expelled from the United States of America.

Trump reacted again with another policy to target Nigerian citizens

After Nigeria had rejected being the country of deportees from the United States, the US tightens visa rules for Nigerians, scrutinises applicants’ social media accounts.

The latest rule by the US as the Trump administration intensifies immigration crackdown, mainly targeting African countries like Nigeria.

The US has announced a new visa rule for Nigerians, requiring all applicants to disclose their social media usernames and handles from the past five years for vetting.

‘‘Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas,’’ the US Embassy in Nigeria said in a statement on X on Monday, adding that visa applicants are ‘‘required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form.’’

Meanwhile, Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has warned Nigerians that the threat by the administration of United States President Donald Trump to invade Nigeria militarily should not be regarded as a welcome development.

Trump had warned that if the Nigerian government fails to tackle the alleged massacre of Christians, the US military would intervene to target those allegedly persecuting Christians.

The development has generated mixed reactions, with some stakeholders, particularly Christians, celebrating Trump’s move.

However, Sowore, in a statement on Sunday, cautioned that the threat should not be celebrated, explaining that a military intervention could cause more harm to the nation.

According to him, the US President “does not care about Nigerians, not Christians, Muslims, or anyone else.”

Sowore stressed that the nation’s deliverance will “never come from abroad; it must come from within, through real leadership, not the Tinubus of this world, and national renewal.”

The statement reads: “The latest threat by US President Donald Trump @POTUS to launch military action in Nigeria, allegedly to protect Christians, may sound appealing to some. Still, history has shown this to be perilous.

Whether you are Christian, Muslim, animist, or non-religious, no one should celebrate such rhetoric. The United States and its allies have a long record of military interventions that leave nations more unstable than before.

They failed to secure peace in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or Syria, and they will not bring salvation to Nigeria through bombs or boots on the ground.

What Nigeria truly needs is not a foreign savior, but legitimate accountable leadership, one that protects all citizens, upholds justice, and ends the cycles of corruption and violence that have left the nation broken.”