Which specific statements did Trump make blaming Biden for Afghanistan’s collapse and ensuing threats?
Executive summary
President Trump repeatedly placed responsibility for the Nov. 27 Washington, D.C. National Guard shootings squarely on President Biden’s 2021 Afghan evacuation and resettlement policies, saying the suspect was “flown in by the Biden administration” under Operation Allies Welcome and calling the attack an “act of terror” tied to Biden-era vetting failures [1] [2]. He also vowed a broad re‑examination and removal of Afghans admitted under Biden and said the suspect’s status was “extended under legislation signed by President Biden,” framing Biden’s policies as an ongoing national‑security threat [3] [4].
1. Trump’s central charge: “flown in by the Biden administration”
Trump’s most‑repeated line was that the suspect “was flown in by the Biden administration in September 2021” — a phrase he used in a Mar‑a‑Lago address and in social posts to link the shooter directly to Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome evacuation effort [1] [3]. Multiple outlets quote him describing Afghanistan as “a hellhole on Earth” and asserting the suspect arrived on the chaotic evacuation flights that accompanied the U.S. withdrawal [1] [4].
2. Calling the shooting an “act of terror” and tying it to vetting failures
The president labeled the attack an “act of terror” carried out by an Afghan national and used that characterization to argue that Biden’s resettlement program allowed “unvetted” individuals into the U.S., asserting those vetting failures created a direct security threat to Americans [2] [1]. His administration’s public framing emphasized the need to treat the incident as terrorism and as evidence of systemic failure in Biden‑era immigration processes [2].
3. Policy promises: mass reviews and removals of Afghan arrivals
Trump announced plans to “re‑examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden” and threatened removal of those who “do not belong here, or add benefit to our country,” signaling a sweeping administrative review and deportation push tied to the incident [5] [3]. He framed this review as a necessary national‑security response to perceived Biden administration laxity [5].
4. Accusations about status extensions and legislation
In public remarks Trump asserted that the suspect’s status had been “extended under legislation signed by President Biden,” using that claim to broaden culpability beyond the initial evacuation to post‑evacuation legal actions attributed to the Biden presidency [3] [4]. Several outlets repeated the line, though available sources do not provide documentation of the specific legislative mechanism he referenced in these cited reports [3] [4].
5. How other officials echoed or contested the claim
Trump’s statements were amplified by administration officials and allies: Department of Homeland Security posts and allies described the suspect as among those “mass paroled” under Operation Allies Welcome and called attention to vetting questions [1]. At the same time, Reuters reporting — cited by HuffPost and others — noted that the Afghan suspect applied for and was granted asylum in April 2025 under the Trump administration, a fact that complicates the simple causal line from Biden’s evacuation to a continued legal presence [6] [7].
6. Media and international coverage: consistent themes, some divergent facts
Major outlets consistently quoted Trump’s lines — flown in under Biden, act of terror, re‑examine every Afghan — and noted his strong rhetoric about the 2021 evacuation [2] [1]. Several reports also highlight tension between the administration’s immediate political framing and timelines in government files showing later asylum approvals under the current administration, underscoring competing narratives in the sources [6] [7].
7. Limitations in the available sourcing
Available sources document Trump’s exact phrasings and policy promises (for example, “flown in by the Biden administration,” “act of terror,” “re‑examine every single alien”) and attribute those quotes to speeches and social posts [1] [5] [2]. The sources do not, however, independently verify the legislative or procedural claim he referenced about status extensions nor do they settle the broader question of which administration approved later asylum actions — Reuters reporting states the asylum was granted in April 2025 under Trump, a detail that complicates simple blame assignment [6] [7].
8. What to watch next
Reporting indicates two competing lines to follow: official investigations into the suspect’s arrival, vetting record and asylum timeline, which Reuters says show an April 2025 asylum grant under the Trump administration [6]; and the administration’s promised administrative reviews of Biden‑era entries and potential removals, which will test how the executive branch translates rhetoric into policy action [5] [3].