President Donald Trump described immigration as a "risk to our survival" in a dark speech on Wednesday night.
Trump posted a video on his Truth Social page where he discussed the attack in Washington, D.C., that left two National Guard troops critically injured. Authorities believe a 29-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan named Rahmanullah Lakanwal from Bellingham, Washington, carried out the shooting.
Lakanwal was injured during the shooting and treated at a local hospital. He is in custody, and reports indicated he was not cooperating with authorities.
In the speech, Trump said he was "determined to ensure that the animal who perpetrated this atrocity pays the steepest possible price."
"This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation," Trump said. "The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world, from places that you don't want to even know about. No country can tolerate such a risk to our very survival."
Trump added that his administration is going to review the 78,000 visa applications of Afghan nationals who were let into the U.S. after Al-Qaeda toppled the country's government in 2021.
The Afghan nationals who were let in received a special visa to recognize their service for the U.S. military during the War on Terror.
"We're not going toput up with these kinds ofassaults on law and order bypeople who shouldn't even be inour country," Trump said. "We must nowreexamine every single alien whohas entered our country fromAfghanistan under Biden, and wemust take all necessary measuresto ensure the removal of anyalien from any country who doesnot belong here, or add benefitto our country. If they can'tlove our country, we don't wantthem."