Trump Berates Female Reporter, Asking 'Are You Stupid?' After Question on DC Shooting Suspect

In the wake of a devastating tragedy—the death of a young National Guard Specialist in a targeted ambush—President Donald Trump did not offer a measured response. Instead, he unleashed a furious, televised tirade against a reporter, shouting: 'Are you a STUPID PERSON? They LET HIM IN... they came on a plane with thousands who shouldn't be here! You're just asking questions because you're a stupid person.'

The shocking outburst, which followed the announcement that US Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom had succumbed to her injuries, immediately set a fierce political firestorm alight, turning the tragic shooting into a battleground for immigration blame.

The incident that sparked this chaos occurred just two blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., where two West Virginia National Guard members were shot on Wednesday.

Specialist Beckstrom's passing was announced by President Trump himself, who paused his Thanksgiving remarks to commemorate the 20-year-old soldier, describing her as 'Highly respected, young, magnificent person.'

Attorney General Pam Bondi later praised Beckstrom on Fox News, confirming that the soldier had 'volunteered to be there on Thanksgiving - working today — she volunteers, as did many of those guardsmen and women, so other people could be home with their families.'

Beckstrom, who had enlisted in June 2023, was a military police soldier and had been deployed to the capital as part of the administration's controversial 'crime emergency' mission since August.

The Political Fallout: Donald Trump Explodes Over The Shooter's Asylum Status

The suspect in the attack, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was swiftly identified by authorities. He had entered the US in September 2021 under 'Operation Allies Welcome', a programme initiated by the Biden administration to evacuate and resettle tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan following the chaotic withdrawal.This key fact was the premise for the reporter's question—why blame the former administration?

The exchange grew tense when the reporter pressed President Trump on this point, prompting the president to make his explosive accusation and then claim there was "a specific law that kept his Department of Homeland Security from deporting the suspected shooter."

What President Trump conspicuously failed to mention during his tirade against the reporter was a crucial detail that undercuts his narrative: Lakanwal's legal status was ratified under the Trump administration earlier this year.

Lakanwal applied for asylum in 2024 and was granted it in April this year—a decision made while the president was in office.This granted asylum status was likely the reason for the reporter's question and is the core of the political controversy.

It also confirms that, despite the president's insistence that Lakanwal was unvetted and an immediate deportation threat, Lakanwal was granted a protected status after entering the country.

Lakanwal remains in custody with wounds that are not believed to be life-threatening, while the second National Guard member, 24-year-old Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, remains in critical condition.

The president's rhetoric escalated further in a late-night video message released on social media. Trump demanded the 'reinvestigation of all Afghan refugees who entered under the Biden administration.'

He stated bluntly, 'If they can't love our country, we don't want them,' adding that the shooting was 'a crime against our entire nation.'

Increased Scrutiny: Donald Trump's Deployment and Asylum Review

The shooting occurred just blocks away from the White House, near Farragut Square, in what Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser described as a 'targeted attack.'

The brazen act of violence against military personnel stationed in the capital has renewed the intense public policy debate over the Trump administration's use of the military to combat what officials cast as an 'out-of-control crime problem.'

The presence of the National Guard troops in Washington D.C., where they were deployed since August to support law enforcement, has been a flashpoint for months, fuelling court fights and legal challenges.

This controversy was underscored by a federal judge's order just last week, which ordered an end to the National Guard deployment, though the order was put on hold for 21 days to allow the administration time to appeal.

Ignoring the legal headwinds, President Trump quickly responded to the shooting by saying he would send 500 more national guard troops to Washington D.C.

Furthermore, the administration announced sweeping immigration reforms in the 24 hours following the attack. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended the processing of immigration requests related to Afghan nationals indefinitely, pending a security review.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) then expanded the crackdown, announcing a review of all asylum cases approved under the Biden administration—though they did not immediately clarify if this applied only to Afghan nationals or included other countries.

The USCIS director, Joseph Edlow, further confirmed the escalation, stating he was directing a 'full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,' specifically at President Trump's request.

This signals a broad, politically charged crackdown on asylum and immigration policy, using the tragic death of Specialist Beckstrom to justify the most significant legal review of immigrant statuses since the start of the administration.