Trump Says We Must Reevaluate Afghan Refugees Following Shooting Of National Guardsmen

President Donald Trump called for every alien who entered the country under former President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal to be reevaluated after two National Guardsmen were shot in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

Trump announced Wednesday that the gunman who allegedly shot two West Virginia National Guard personnel has been identified as an Afghan national who entered the country in 2021. The president gave a video address the night of the attack, blaming the Biden administration for allowing “unvetted foreigners” to enter the United States.

“We must now re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and 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,” Trump said.

“America will never bend and never yield in the face of terror, and at the same time, we will not be deterred from the mission the service members were so nobly fulfilling,” he continued.

The shooter was identified by sources to CBS News as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national. While the Afghan national was brought into the United States in 2021, CNN reported that he applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved in April. (RELATED: Afghani Suspect In DC National Guard Shooting Let In Under Program Biden Said Was Safe)

The West Virginia National Guardsmen were deployed to Washington D.C. under Trump’s initiative to crackdown on crime in the Nation’s capital. They were shot just blocks from the White House, and according to their state’s governor, are in critical condition. Initial reports said the individuals were killed. (RELATED: Numbers Don’t Lie: Trump’s DC Crackdown Is Working)

Latest on the attack of West Virginia National Guard in Washington, DC. pic.twitter.com/jHNroebbFH

— Governor Patrick Morrisey (@wvgovernor) November 27, 2025

The suspect shouted “Allahu akbar!” before opening fire with a revolver, independent journalist Julio Rojas reported. One National Guardsman on the scene stabbed the gunman with a pocketknife before another one fired multiple shots that struck the assailant, according to Rojas. It’s unclear at the time of publication what the shooter’s condition is.

Following the shooting, War Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Trump asked him to send additional 500 National Guard troops to deploy to Washington, D.C. to help keep the city safe.

“This heinous assault was an act of evil and an act of hatred and an act of terror. It was a crime against our entire nation. It was a crime against humanity,” Trump said in his Wednesday address.