Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem deflected questions about whether the Trump administration had fully vetted the suspected National Guard shooter, an Afghan national, when it granted him asylum earlier this year, then repeatedly shifted the blame to former President Joe Biden.
Appearing Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Noem told host Kristen Welker: “We believe [the suspect] was radicalized since he’s been here in this country.”
“We will never allow this to continue to happen in our country, allow individuals who came to our country that were unvetted by Joe Biden, allowed to run free and loose,” she added. “We are going to bring them to justice and make sure that they’re returned out of this country if they aren’t here for the purposes of being an American.”
Noem’s remarks came after Trump announced plans to “permanently pause migration from all third-world countries” following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Thanksgiving eve in an ambush attack tied to suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Lakanwal, who moved to the U.S. to serve in a special CIA-backed Afghan Army unit, faces charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Welker then noted that Lakanwal would have “undergone extensive vetting” during his CIA tenure and also had his asylum application approved in April 2025 by Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency that is a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“Why did the Trump administration grant the suspect asylum in April? Did you know then that he was moving toward radicalization?” Welker asked.
Noem ignored the question and continued to criticize Biden.
“The Biden administration put people on airplanes, brought them to the United States without vetting them,” Noem said.
Biden announced a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The withdrawal resulted in suicide attacks at Kabul’s airport, which killed 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. soldiers, among other violent incidents. The GOP rebuked Biden for the move.
Welker went on to grill Noem over the exact type of vetting that the Trump administration did before giving asylum to Lakanwal.
“So, just to be very clear, was there a vetting process in place to approve that asylum request?” Welker asked.
“Yeah,” Noem said. “The vetting process all happened under Joe Biden’s administration.”
Welker interjected, “But was he vetted when he was granted asylum?”
“That is what is so broken—” Noem replied, to which the NBC host added, “Are you saying he wasn’t vetted when he was granted asylum?”
Noem again deflected blame, and claimed the vetting “was completely abandoned under Joe Biden’s administration.”
Watch Noem’s appearance on “Meet the Press” below.
