Trump 'wiped away' programs that may have stopped alleged DC shooter: expert
Brigadier General Leland D. Blanchard II looks towards pictures of two National Guard members who were shot in Washington on November 26, along with a picture of a suspect, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, at a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, attorney Jeanine Pirro and other authorities in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 27, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
November 27, 2025
ALTERNET
The alleged perpetrator of the recent shooting of two National Guard members in downtown Washington D.C. may have been kept out of American society if not for budget cuts by President Donald Trump's administration.
That's according to #AfghanEvac President Shawn VanDiver, who told MS NOW on Thursday that alleged shooter Rahmanullah Lakanwal – an Afghan national who came to the United States in September of 2021 — could have potentially been stopped before carrying out his act. He cited the 2024 arrest of 19 year-old Afghan national Abdullah Haji Zada, who was apprehended for plotting an Election Day mass shooting in Oklahoma City, as an example of how federal resources can work to prevent acts of terrorism before they happen.
"Nobody should ever have to endure this gun violence that's endemic in our American society. And look, the truth is that this man alone is responsible for his crime. His actions do not represent the Afghan community or Afghan wartime allies, or anybody who stood with us for 20 years," VanDiver said. "In fact, the FBI's own watchdog confirmed that the vetting systems worked under Kash Patel in in June of 2025. He said there were no systemic failures, so we don't necessarily know what failed yet. But we do know that there are law enforcement mechanisms in place to identify lone wolves, and that worked before the last election, when the man in Oklahoma City was identified and taken out."
"All sorts of people have tried to do these lone wolf attacks. President Trump, through DOGE, wiped away all of the mechanisms meant to protect our American society from that," he continued. "So I would encourage DHS, the FBI, law enforcement around this country to reallocate resources away from stunts at Home Depot and picking up grandmas at immigration court back to the places that keep our country safe."
VanDiver's organization, #AfghanEvac, works to resettle Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban — particularly those who helped the United States during its 20-year war in the Central Asian country. He pointed out that all people applying to move from Afghanistan to the U.S. have to be "thoroughly vetted," and reminded viewers that the Trump administration approved Lakanwal's asylum application earlier this year.
"This gentleman came through Operation Allies Welcome, went through the airport in Kabul, arrived as a parolee on temporary status. And he, for whatever reason, he got Chief of Mission approval, which means he went through vetting then," VanDiver said. "But then he also applied for and received asylum from the Trump administration, which means he was vetted then as well. The CIA, the intelligence community, the larger intelligence community, law enforcement all vetted this guy."
"So we're not certain that that has anything to do with it. What we think is that he was just a deranged man, and the entire Afghan community shouldn't suffer for that," he added. "But look, these folks are facing really hard times, right? They're hiding in Kabul. They're in hiding all all over Afghanistan, trying to come here because of the promises that our diplomats and service members made to them. And the Trump administration shut it all down on day one."
Watch the segment below:
'Collective punishment': WSJ warns MAGA panic over Afghans will hurt America
Matthew Chapman
November 27, 2025
Matthew Chapman
November 27, 2025
RAW STORY
Law enforcement members gather in a cordoned-off area after two National Guard members were reportedly shot near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 26, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
President Donald Trump and his supporters are already calling for a broad reinvestigation and reversal of asylum grants to Afghan nationals who helped the U.S. military, after one of them was arrested in connection with the horrific ambush shooting of two National Guard troops in D.C. But this call for "collective punishment" is only going to make things worse, warned the Wall Street Journal editorial board on Thursday evening.
"The motive of 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal isn’t known at this writing. But U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said he drove from his home in Bellingham, Wash., with a goal of staging an attack in Washington, D.C.," wrote the board. "Officials are calling it a terror attack, yet the CIA said the man had been part of a CIA-backed Afghan 'partner force' in Kandahar province, one of the most dangerous places during the war. As such he was a Taliban target and thus he and his family were candidates for evacuation after the chaotic U.S. retreat from Afghanistan in 2021."
The fact is, the board wrote, this man checked all the boxes to be granted resettlement in the United States, and everyone involved did their due diligence. "Even careful vetting is imperfect, and Rahmanullah Lakanwal may have become radicalized in the U.S. This has been known to happen even with the children of refugees who grow up in America."
Moreover, the board wrote, the calls to shut the door on people who helped the U.S. military and face reprisal in their home country, will cause far more problems than it solves.
"The fate of Afghans, men and women, who worked with the U.S. has often been brutal," wrote the board. "You can be sure Americans will fight overseas again, and our troops will need allies on the ground to succeed. How many will assist us if they believe there will be no exit for them if the U.S. leaves with the enemy triumphant?"
The bottom line, the board concluded, is that "tens of thousands are building new lives here in peace and are contributing to their communities. They shouldn’t be blamed for the violent act of one man. Collective punishment of all Afghans in the U.S. won’t make America safer and it might embitter more against the United States."
Law enforcement members gather in a cordoned-off area after two National Guard members were reportedly shot near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 26, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
President Donald Trump and his supporters are already calling for a broad reinvestigation and reversal of asylum grants to Afghan nationals who helped the U.S. military, after one of them was arrested in connection with the horrific ambush shooting of two National Guard troops in D.C. But this call for "collective punishment" is only going to make things worse, warned the Wall Street Journal editorial board on Thursday evening.
"The motive of 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal isn’t known at this writing. But U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said he drove from his home in Bellingham, Wash., with a goal of staging an attack in Washington, D.C.," wrote the board. "Officials are calling it a terror attack, yet the CIA said the man had been part of a CIA-backed Afghan 'partner force' in Kandahar province, one of the most dangerous places during the war. As such he was a Taliban target and thus he and his family were candidates for evacuation after the chaotic U.S. retreat from Afghanistan in 2021."
The fact is, the board wrote, this man checked all the boxes to be granted resettlement in the United States, and everyone involved did their due diligence. "Even careful vetting is imperfect, and Rahmanullah Lakanwal may have become radicalized in the U.S. This has been known to happen even with the children of refugees who grow up in America."
Moreover, the board wrote, the calls to shut the door on people who helped the U.S. military and face reprisal in their home country, will cause far more problems than it solves.
"The fate of Afghans, men and women, who worked with the U.S. has often been brutal," wrote the board. "You can be sure Americans will fight overseas again, and our troops will need allies on the ground to succeed. How many will assist us if they believe there will be no exit for them if the U.S. leaves with the enemy triumphant?"
The bottom line, the board concluded, is that "tens of thousands are building new lives here in peace and are contributing to their communities. They shouldn’t be blamed for the violent act of one man. Collective punishment of all Afghans in the U.S. won’t make America safer and it might embitter more against the United States."
‘Are you stupid?’ Trump explodes at reporter after being called out on false claims
Alexander Willis
November 27, 2025
RAW STORY
President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter Thursday for refuting his claims that Afghan migrants who entered the United States were unvetted, calling the reporter a “stupid person” in an explosive rant.
“There was no vetting or anything, they came in unvetted! And we have a lot of others in this country, we're going to get them out,” Trump said during a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.
The press conference comes in the wake of the deadly shooting Wednesday in Washington, D.C. where an Afghan migrant shot two National Guard members, one of whom succumbed to their injuries Thursday evening. Afghan migrants were, in fact, vetted by the Department of Homeland Security upon entry, despite Trump’s claims.
One reporter moved to call Trump out on his false claim, ultimately sparking his wrath.
“Actually, your DOJ, [inspector general] just reported this year that there was thorough vetting by DHS and by the FBI of these Afghans who were brought into the U.S., so why do you blame the Biden administration for what this man did?”
“Because they let him in! Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” Trump lashed out.
“Because they came in on a plane along with thousands of other people who shouldn't be here, and you're just asking questions because you're a stupid person! And – we – there's a law passed that it's almost possible to get them out once they come in.”
A number of conservative lawmakers and members of the Trump administration have laid blame for the shooting on the Biden administration, including Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and FBI Director Kash Patel.
Alexander Willis
November 27, 2025
RAW STORY
President Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter Thursday for refuting his claims that Afghan migrants who entered the United States were unvetted, calling the reporter a “stupid person” in an explosive rant.
“There was no vetting or anything, they came in unvetted! And we have a lot of others in this country, we're going to get them out,” Trump said during a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.
The press conference comes in the wake of the deadly shooting Wednesday in Washington, D.C. where an Afghan migrant shot two National Guard members, one of whom succumbed to their injuries Thursday evening. Afghan migrants were, in fact, vetted by the Department of Homeland Security upon entry, despite Trump’s claims.
One reporter moved to call Trump out on his false claim, ultimately sparking his wrath.
“Actually, your DOJ, [inspector general] just reported this year that there was thorough vetting by DHS and by the FBI of these Afghans who were brought into the U.S., so why do you blame the Biden administration for what this man did?”
“Because they let him in! Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” Trump lashed out.
“Because they came in on a plane along with thousands of other people who shouldn't be here, and you're just asking questions because you're a stupid person! And – we – there's a law passed that it's almost possible to get them out once they come in.”
A number of conservative lawmakers and members of the Trump administration have laid blame for the shooting on the Biden administration, including Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and FBI Director Kash Patel.
'They're ripping us off': Trump slams Somalians in non-sequitur at DC shooting conference
Matthew Chapman
November 27, 2025
RAW STORY
Donald Trump (Reuters)
As President Donald Trump fielded questions at a press conference about the deadly Washington, D.C. shooting against two National Guard troops, he went off into a strange non-sequitur attacking Somalians — and had to be reminded by reporters that this was in no way relevant to the discussion.
"If you look at Somalia, they are taking over Minnesota," said Trump.
"What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?" a reporter challenged him.
"Ah, nothing," Trump admitted. "But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off."
The Somali community in Minneapolis, which grew in the 1990s from immigrants who fled a civil war in their home country, has been a particular sore point for Trump and the MAGA movement ever since the election in Trump's first term of Somali-American Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who fled East Africa as a child and is one of the first ever Muslim women elected to Congress.
Trump has claimed he tried to have her deported to Somalia, to which Omar responded by calling him a "lying buffoon."
Trump orders review of immigrant visas after National Guard attack
By AFP
November 27, 2025
Copyright AFP Drew ANGERER
Maria DANILOVA
The Trump administration on Thursday said it was reviewing permanent residency status of immigrants from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, in its latest response to the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House.
The FBI meanwhile said it had launched an international terrorism investigation as new details emerged about the alleged gunman, a 29-year-old Afghan national who had served with US troops in Afghanistan.
The shooting, which officials described as an “ambush-style” attack, cast a grim shadow over the Thanksgiving holiday and triggered a hard-line, anti-immigrant response from President Donald Trump.
In a brief video statement in which he called the shooting an “act of evil,” Trump on Wednesday painted immigrants as an existential threat to national security, while his administration ordered an immediate halt to the processing of immigration applications from Afghanistan.
“We must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country. If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” the president said.
Joseph Edlow, Trump’s director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said Thursday that he had ordered a “full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”
His agency later pointed to a list of 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — facing US travel restrictions under a previous order from Trump in June.
The incident brings together three politically explosive issues: Trump’s controversial use of the military at home, immigration, and the legacy of the US war in Afghanistan.
– Gunned down in ‘brazen’ attack –
Both soldiers remained in critical condition on Thursday, while the suspected shooter was in detention in hospital.
The US attorney for Washington DC, Jeanine Pirro, said the suspected assailant — identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal — had been living in the western state of Washington and had driven across the country to the nation’s capital.
In what she called a “brazen and targeted” attack, Pirro said the gunman opened fire with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver on a group of guardsmen on patrol Wednesday just a few blocks shy of the White House.
The suspect was charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill — charges that Pirro said would immediately be upgraded to first-degree murder if any of the guardsmen died.
Officials said they still had no clear understanding of the motive behind the shooting.
CIA director John Ratcliffe said the suspect had been part of a CIA-backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, and had been brought to the United States as part of a program to evacuate Afghans who had worked with the agency.
Trump has deployed troops to several cities, all run by Democrats, including Washington, Los Angeles and Memphis. The move has prompted multiple lawsuits and allegations of authoritarian overreach by the White House.
In the wake of Wednesday’s shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced 500 more troops would deploy to Washington, bringing the total to 2,500. This despite a federal judge last week ordering a temporary suspension of the deployment on the grounds that it was likely illegal.
– Afghan legacy –
The heads of the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security and other senior Trump appointees all insisted that Lakanwal had been granted unvetted access to the United States because of lax asylum policies in the wake of the chaotic final US withdrawal from Afghanistan under former president Joe Biden.
But AfghanEvac, a group that helped resettle Afghans in the United States after the military withdrawal, said they undergo “some of the most extensive security vetting” of any migrants.
The group noted Lakanwal had been granted asylum in April 2025, under the Trump administration, and would be eligible to request permanent residency a year later.
“This individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or diminish an entire community,” said its president, Shawn VanDiver.
By AFP
November 27, 2025
Copyright AFP Drew ANGERER
Maria DANILOVA
The Trump administration on Thursday said it was reviewing permanent residency status of immigrants from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, in its latest response to the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House.
The FBI meanwhile said it had launched an international terrorism investigation as new details emerged about the alleged gunman, a 29-year-old Afghan national who had served with US troops in Afghanistan.
The shooting, which officials described as an “ambush-style” attack, cast a grim shadow over the Thanksgiving holiday and triggered a hard-line, anti-immigrant response from President Donald Trump.
In a brief video statement in which he called the shooting an “act of evil,” Trump on Wednesday painted immigrants as an existential threat to national security, while his administration ordered an immediate halt to the processing of immigration applications from Afghanistan.
“We must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here, or add benefit to our country. If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them,” the president said.
Joseph Edlow, Trump’s director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said Thursday that he had ordered a “full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”
His agency later pointed to a list of 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — facing US travel restrictions under a previous order from Trump in June.
The incident brings together three politically explosive issues: Trump’s controversial use of the military at home, immigration, and the legacy of the US war in Afghanistan.
– Gunned down in ‘brazen’ attack –
Both soldiers remained in critical condition on Thursday, while the suspected shooter was in detention in hospital.
The US attorney for Washington DC, Jeanine Pirro, said the suspected assailant — identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal — had been living in the western state of Washington and had driven across the country to the nation’s capital.
In what she called a “brazen and targeted” attack, Pirro said the gunman opened fire with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver on a group of guardsmen on patrol Wednesday just a few blocks shy of the White House.
The suspect was charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill — charges that Pirro said would immediately be upgraded to first-degree murder if any of the guardsmen died.
Officials said they still had no clear understanding of the motive behind the shooting.
CIA director John Ratcliffe said the suspect had been part of a CIA-backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, and had been brought to the United States as part of a program to evacuate Afghans who had worked with the agency.
Trump has deployed troops to several cities, all run by Democrats, including Washington, Los Angeles and Memphis. The move has prompted multiple lawsuits and allegations of authoritarian overreach by the White House.
In the wake of Wednesday’s shooting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced 500 more troops would deploy to Washington, bringing the total to 2,500. This despite a federal judge last week ordering a temporary suspension of the deployment on the grounds that it was likely illegal.
– Afghan legacy –
The heads of the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security and other senior Trump appointees all insisted that Lakanwal had been granted unvetted access to the United States because of lax asylum policies in the wake of the chaotic final US withdrawal from Afghanistan under former president Joe Biden.
But AfghanEvac, a group that helped resettle Afghans in the United States after the military withdrawal, said they undergo “some of the most extensive security vetting” of any migrants.
The group noted Lakanwal had been granted asylum in April 2025, under the Trump administration, and would be eligible to request permanent residency a year later.
“This individual’s isolated and violent act should not be used as an excuse to define or diminish an entire community,” said its president, Shawn VanDiver.
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