Trump claims National Guard shooting suspect ‘went cuckoo,’ calls reporter ‘a stupid person’
President Trump claimed that the suspect behind the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, DC “went cuckoo” and faulted poor vetting for letting him into the country during a fiery exchange with a reporter.
“He went cuckoo, he went nuts. And that happens too often with these people,” Trump told a reporter who highlighted suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s ties to the CIA. “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.”
President Trump claimed that the Afghan terror suspect behind the shooting of two national Guard troops near the White House “went cuckoo” and faulted poor vetting for letting him into the country. AFP via Getty Images
Trump took questions from reporters after thanking half a dozen military units for their service during a Thanksgiving video call. The president also updated them on the death of West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, who had been in critical condition at the hospital since she was shot twice by the suspect Wednesday afternoon.
Lakanwal was allowed into the US under the Biden administration’s “Operation Allies Welcome” program in 2021 for Afghans who aided America. The president bristled when the reporter argued that the Afghan refugees accepted into the US had been vetted.
“Are you a stupid person?” Trump fired back when pressed. “Because they came in on a plane along with thousands of other people that shouldn’t be here, and you’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person.”
Shortly after getting sworn in for his second term, Trump moved to halt Afghan refugee resettlement in the US and later restricted travel from the country.
Lakanwal trekked from Washington state to the nation’s capital, where he allegedly carried out the brutal ambush attack just blocks away from the White House. FBI
On Wednesday, in the wake of the shooting, the Trump administration went a step further, announcing that it was immediately suspending “processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals” indefinitely pending a review of vetting protocols.
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Immigration officials are also pursuing “a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow.
US President Donald Trump shows a printed photo during a call with service members from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 27, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
Lakanwal served in the elite NDS-03 counterterrorism unit in Afghanistan, one of at least five paramilitary “Zero Units” that worked with the CIA, according to the nonprofit group AfghanEvac, a nonprofit run by American veterans helping resettle Afghan allies in the US, but not Lakanwal.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Lakanwal had worked with the agency, but did not specify the unit.
Follow the latest on the National Guard shooting in Washington, DC:
“This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here,” CIA director John Ratcliffe said in response to the shooting, revealing that Lakanwal previously worked for a unit tied to the spy agency.
Lakanwal, who is married with five children, had trekked from Washington state to the nation’s capital, where he allegedly carried out the brutal ambush attack just blocks away from the White House, local authorities said.
Beckstrom eventually succumbed to her injuries and died on Thursday evening. Facebook / Sarah Beckstrom
West Virginia National Guard members, Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries Thursday, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, was left critically wounded from the shooting.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro warned that Lakanwal will face murder charges and Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed that prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
So far, authorities have hit Lakanwal with at least three counts of assault with intent to kill and criminal possession of a weapon, which carry up to 15 years behind bars.
The suspect is currently recovering from his injuries after a National Guard member opened fire on him.
