U.S. President Donald Trump says his pause on asylum decisions will remain for “a long time” after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members near the White House, killing one of them.
00:00United States President Donald Trump announced that his administration will maintain a long-term
00:06pause on asylum decisions. He said the U.S. should not admit people from certain countries
00:12claiming individuals from those nations have caused harm. The remarks come after a recent
00:18shooting near the White House that killed one National Guard member and critically injured
00:23another. Authorities have identified the attacker as an Afghan national.
00:30So you announced that asylum. And that includes Somalians and includes plenty of others. How long does your administration plan to pause asylum into the U.S.? I think a long time. Can you give any kind of time? We don't want those people. We have enough problems. We don't want those people. Is that a year, two years? No time limit, but it could be a long time.
00:52The pause applies to 19 countries already subject to U.S. travel restrictions since June, which includes Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar.
01:02The shooting on November 26 claimed the life of 20-year-old Sarah Backstorm and left another guardsman seriously wounded.
01:09Rahmanullah Lakanwal had been a part of a CIA-backed force fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and entered the U.S. through a resettlement program after the 2021 American withdrawal.
01:20He was granted asylum in April 2025.
01:24Trump, however, has blamed his predecessor Joe Biden's administration for what he called lax vetting for Lakanwal's admission to the U.S.
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