REPORT: How Trump Almost Invaded Nigeria With U.S. Special Forces

Former U.S. presidents are profiled in this book. The administration of President Donald Trump has revealed how US military, including the Navy SEALs, came close to invading Nigeria.

Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker’s book, “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” reported US special forces infiltrating the country to rescue Philip Walton, the son of an American missionary who was kidnapped at his house by gunmen in the neighboring Niger Republic.

“The mission had to be paused until the Nigerian government signed off. American forces had come very close to a technical invasion of a foreign country,” the book said.

It was unclear at the time of the operation whether the US military intervention on Nigerian soil was in accordance with Article 2(4) of the UN Charter on Territorial Integrity.

However, in response to fears of an unlawful invasion, Nigeria’s defense minister, Bashir Salihi Magashi, stated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime had given approval to US special troops to rescue Mr Walton.

According to the authors, the US operation was halted after officials learned that a White House adviser, Kash Patel, had told officials that the Nigerian government was aware of the mission, but the details were unclear.

Mr Patel, according to the authors, declined to comment on the matter.

According to the book, when then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien were unavailable, Mr Trump approved the mission himself.

It further stated that Mark Esper, the defense secretary, had not discussed the topic with President Trump before to its approval.

The mission, which took place in October of last year, was successful, with six captors being killed.

Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s spokesman, issued a statement announcing Mr Walton’s release.