President Donald Trump concluded 2025 and began 2026 with a one-two punch of bold military strikes to free people from oppression. On Christmas Day, he launched strikes in Nigeria in response to the ongoing religiously motivated terror attacks on Christians. Then, just last week, he ordered a successful operation to remove Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro from power.
These precision strikes – which used American power to provide hope for the persecuted without embroiling the country in another long and costly foreign conflict – have reverberated around the world. One area in particular where this leadership has inspired optimism is in Sudan, where millions are desperate for an end to that nation’s bloody civil war. Trump has already brokered an end to eight conflicts during his second term. Could Sudan be the ninth?
The Sudanese Civil War erupted in April 2023 after a power struggle between rival military factions derailed a fragile transition from dictatorship to civilian rule. Fighting broke out between the national army, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
Under Biden, whose feckless leadership allowed scores of conflicts to spring up around the world, there was little hope for a swift resolution. But after Trump negotiated a peaceful solution to brewing conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan, there is reason to believe that he could successfully intercede in Sudan as well. In early December, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Trump has been personally overseeing efforts to end the civil war and is “the only leader in the world capable of resolving the Sudan crisis.”
The war has devastated major cities, displaced millions, and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with widespread shortages of food, water, and medical care. Estimates vary widely, but some independent analyses have found that as many as 150,000 people have been killed, while 12 million have been forced from their homes and 21 million are in need of aid. Nearly a million children under five are dangerously malnourished, and more than 17 million children are out of school.
Despite multiple ceasefire attempts and international mediation, neither side has secured a decisive victory. The war has fragmented the country along regional and ethnic lines while raising fears of long-term state collapse and regional instability.
Sudan’s unending conflict has also swallowed Christian communities, casting them into the center of unyielding violence. Dr. Ron Boyd-MacMillan of Global Christian Relief has warned that “the Sudanese church is on the verge of collapse.” Armed factions seize churches, turning sanctuaries into battlegrounds and launching attacks after pastors are slain. When rival forces retake these sites, new waves of violence erupt, as churches are seen as enemy fortresses.
The destruction is immense, with more than 150 churches already reduced to rubble. In a powerful address to the U.K. Parliament, a retiring Anglican bishop painted a harrowing picture of the conflict, describing it as a war stripped of humanity, scarred by Christian genocide, and called it “the worst human catastrophe on the planet.”
Two recent incidents from the battlefield illustrate this situation.
In December, drones operated by paramilitary forces struck the town of Kalogi in three relentless waves. First, they hit the kindergarten. Next, they targeted the hospital. Finally, they struck desperate rescuers scrambling to save the children.
The UN children’s agency said the attack killed at least 10 children, some as young as five. The SAF-aligned foreign ministry put the total death toll at 79. Of that count, 43 were children.
Just before the new year, United Nations aid workers also gained access to el-Fasher, a city in western Sudan, for the first time since RSF forces captured it in October. As the Associated Press reported:
“Survivors among the more than 100,000 people who fled el-Fasher reported RSF fighters gunning down civilians in homes and in the streets, leaving the city littered with bodies. Satellite photos have since appeared to show RSF disposing of bodies in mass graves or by burning them.”
The World Food Program called el-Fasher’s conditions “beyond horrific.” A Red Crescent spokesperson told reporters their team found buried bodies right outside buildings, noting that new cases were reported each day.
El-Fasher is located in Darfur province – the same place where dictator Omar al-Bashir set loose his brutal forces 20 years ago, with Christians often in the crosshairs. Though al-Bashir was eventually imprisoned, his partners in crime slipped away, untouched by justice. Now, the ghost of genocide returns, spreading fear and devastation.
Mohaned Elnour, a Christian lawyer dedicated to defending religious freedom and associated with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, stressed that “Christians of every denomination, especially those who have converted from Islam, are bearing the brunt of this conflict.”
Born in Sudan, Elnour explained that while the country abolished its apostasy law in 2020, it left Family Law untouched, “allowing the continued prosecution and torture of Christians.” He noted that scrapping the apostasy law helped Sudan get off the U.S. State Department’s ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ list. “The trick worked,” said Elnour, who was recently attacked in public by supporters of those who persecute Christians.
The experts I spoke with agreed that dividing power between old and new factions – a strategy pushed by Western advisors after the dictatorship fell – led to disaster. The old guard swiftly seized control, paving the way for hardline Islamist leaders to regroup and rebuild their strength. Once emboldened, they attacked the fragile new state, plunging the country back into bloodshed and unleashing another wave of brutality.
As bleak as things may seem, however, Trump’s return to the White House has reinvigorated peace efforts. Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, has in particular stated his commitment to finding a solution to the conflict and has voiced his belief that Trump is the right leader to spearhead the effort.
2025 was marked by historically successful diplomatic efforts from President Trump. It may well be that Sudan becomes his next major victory on that front in 2026.
Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.
