President Trump Spends Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago
President Trump is spending Thanksgiving at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, with his wife Melania. Mr. Trump played golf in the morning, and he and the first lady plan to call service members. Mr. Trump and Melania participated in the annual turkey pardoning at the White House on Tuesday, giving Waddle and Gobble a “full and unconditional pardon,” before heading off for the holiday. On Wednesday night, two members of the National Guard were shot near the White House. The victims have been identified as members of the West Virginia National Guard, Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. Both had been stationed in D.C. since August, and had been deputized to maintain their status to conduct presence patrols less than 24 hours earlier. Both Beckstorm and Wolfe are in critical condition, authorities said.
Suspect Identified
The suspect in the shooting has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who authorities said was paroled into the U.S. on Sept. 8, 2021, under a Biden-era program for Afghan nationals called Operation Allies Welcome. The CIA confirmed Thursday that Lakanwal had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan. The suspect was shot by another Guard member and taken into custody; officials said he had driven from Washington state to carry out the attack.
Trump’s Response
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that an additional 500 members of the National Guard are being deployed to D.C., joining the roughly 2,200 troops already there as of Sunday morning. Mr. Trump posted a video on social media on Wednesday night addressing the shooting, calling it an “act of evil and an act of hatred and an act of terror… It was a crime against our entire nation.” He also noted that the suspect had come to the U.S. under the Biden-era program and vowed to “reexamine 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… No country can tolerate such a risk.”
Additional Content (Extracted)
A testament to this, Mr. Trump also discussed Somali immigrants in Minnesota during his statement.