Following the latest terror attack against Washington, President Donald Trump ordered another 500 National Guard troops into the nation’s capital and vowed a far broader immigration crackdown. Two National Guardsmen were wounded following a shooting steps from the White House. Authorities identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national.
In a video message recorded in Palm Beach, where he is spending the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump called the attack an “act of terror” and “a crime against humanity.” He condemned the suspect as an “animal” who carried out the assault “at point-blank range in a monstrous, ambush-style attack just steps away from the White House.”
Trump tied the shooting to what he described as “the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” asserting that Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 through an evacuation program for Afghans established during the Biden administration’s withdrawal. “We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country under Biden,” the president declared.
Warnings followed swiftly. “No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival,” Trump said, singling out Somali refugees in Minnesota—calling it “the once great state”—and describing Afghanistan as “a hellhole on earth.”
Federal immigration authorities responded within hours. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced an immediate freeze on all pending immigration applications from Afghan nationals, including Special Immigrant Visas long reserved for those who aided U.S. and NATO forces during the two-decade conflict, wrote The New York Times.
The additional troop deployment raises the Guard presence in Washington to roughly 2,500, even as the legality of the mission remains under active challenge. A federal judge ruled last week that the existing deployment, drawn from multiple Republican-led states under direct federal control, appears to violate federal law. That decision is stayed until December 11 as appeals continue.
Military experts said the shooting in one of the most fortified areas of the United States defied expectations. “It is probably one of the safest places on this planet to be,” said Maj. Gen. William Enyart, former adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard and a former Democratic congressman, calling the incident “really astounding.” He urged officials not to allow the attack to become “a political football.”
The incident now threatens to deepen the national fight over the use of federalized Guard units in domestic law enforcement, with similar court battles already underway in Chicago and other cities. At present, only Washington and Memphis have active Guard deployments for public-safety missions.
White House officials have yet to outline further immigration measures beyond the application freeze and the ongoing mass-deportation operations. But Trump’s remarks signal a renewed drive to tighten restrictions on entrants from several countries, setting up another major clash over immigration and executive power.
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The 2 who were shot did NOT Serve in Afganistan.
Uniform triggred shooter BUT NG has been in DC since August.
Why shoot now