AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Trump just moments ago addressed the shooting that took place near the White House today, a shooting that critically injured two members of the National Guard. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram is now with us to discuss what President Trump said. Hi, Deepa.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so tell us more about Trump's remarks tonight.
SHIVARAM: Yeah. This all happened pretty quickly. So the president is in Florida right now for the Thanksgiving holiday, and he's spending, you know, the next couple of days there. And in this video address to the nation, he called the shooting that happened today a, quote, "heinous assault" and said it was an act of terror and a crime against the entire nation. And he talked about the perpetrator as well. Here's what he said.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: As president of the United States, I am determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price.
SHIVARAM: And the president also said that the Department of Homeland Security, he said, is confident that this suspect is a foreigner who entered the U.S. from Afghanistan, which Trump referred to as a hellhole.
CHANG: Well, President Trump also said that the suspect, when he came from Afghanistan to the U.S., it was in 2021, right? So what do you think that very fact means for the status of Afghans in the country now? Like, what ripple effects do you see from all of this for them?
SHIVARAM: Yeah. I mean, a lot of things are really unclear right now. Obviously, a lot of the information is still very new, and the president, for the most part, really didn't get into many specifics here. But the president did say that the U.S., he thinks, needs to reexamine every single person who came in from Afghanistan under the Biden administration. And you'll remember, I mean, this was happening in 2021 - right? - right after the U.S. pulled troops out of Afghanistan. Hundreds of refugees were coming into the country. Abo`ut 200,000 Afghan immigrants and refugees came to the U.S. at that time after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban that happened around in, like, August 2021. It was a pretty critical moment for the Biden administration.
CHANG: Right.
SHIVARAM: And in the aftermath of that, you know, some of them have since received green cards or even U.S. citizenship. Many, though, have, like, a little bit of a more tenuous legal situation. Maybe they're here on humanitarian parole. And so Trump really, you know, called into question, like, what that, you know, future for them might look like in this country. You know, and Trump commented that the shooter - of course, you know, this all happened under Biden-era policies, his predecessor, and this is what he said about it.
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TRUMP: This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation.
SHIVARAM: So using really strong language there. He also said, quote, "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." Like I said, not a lot of specifics here. He didn't really elaborate on how any of this would happen or the timeline, who is overseeing any of this. I will just add, though, you know, earlier this year, the Trump administration canceled a special program for Afghans and others that allowed individuals from countries where their lives might be in danger, either due to wars, conflict, natural disasters. That program for them to legally live and work in the United States until it's safe for them to return home was canceled under the Trump administration. And the administration now deems Afghanistan, which is still governed by the Taliban, safe enough to send people back to. So really, a lot of...
CHANG: Yeah.
SHIVARAM: ...Throwing into question, you know, the future...
CHANG: Right.
SHIVARAM: ...For a lot of Afghans in the U.S.
CHANG: And real quick, Deepa, what do you think today's horrible events mean for the deployment of further National Guard troops to D.C.?
SHIVARAM: Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, Trump was really specific. He said he's going to increase the number of troops in D.C., adding 500 more troops. It is an interesting time, though, Ailsa, because, I mean, I was just at the White House yesterday, and he was talking about, you know, criticizing the Illinois governor. He wants to send more troops to Chicago and other cities, though keep in mind there are some legal challenges to this that Trump is facing for using the authority on this...
CHANG: OK.
SHIVARAM: ...This way.
CHANG: OK.
SHIVARAM: But, you know, he seems to be going full speed ahead.
CHANG: That is NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thank you, Deepa.
SHIVARAM: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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