Donald Trump uses New Orleans attack to push security and border agenda

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Donald Trump and his Republican allies have seized on the New Orleans terror attack to blame Joe Biden and criticize his policies in the final weeks of his presidency.

The incident in which at least 15 people diedand the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas have also fueled narratives from Republicans who argue that crime is out of control and that only Trump’s new national security team and a crackdown on immigration will address it.

“With Biden’s Open Border Policy, I have said many times at rallies and elsewhere that radical Islamic terrorism and other forms of violent crime will become so bad in America that it will be hard to even imagine or believe. That time has come, only worse. than ever imagined.” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday morning.

Trump and others Republicans initially claimed it was false that the New Orleans attacker was an immigrant from the southern border.Shamsud-Deen Jabbar, the suspect authorities said was inspired by the Islamic State group, and who was killed in it, a 42-year-old US soldier was a veteran from Texas who worked at financial services groups including Accenture and Deloitte.

The FBI said Thursday that it acted alone. The agency also said it had not established any connection between the New Orleans attack and the Cybertruck explosion in Nevada that killed one person and injured seven others.

But Trump’s allies still doubled down on Biden’s claims immigration Politics, or immigration in general, was behind the violence, which echoed the lines of attack Trump used to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential race.

“Islamic terrorism imports. It’s “not homemade,” Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller wrote in X.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News that the US has “weakened” its national security by emboldening groups like ISIS. “President Trump is going to take office, and we’re going to secure that border to carry out a deportation operation. We focus and prioritize threats to public safety and threats to national security.”

Republicans close to Trump are also trying to capitalize on the attack to boost their campaign to secure quick Senate confirmation of the president-elect in some of the president-elect’s top national security posts.

Pete Hegsett, Trump’s pick to be secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence, and Kash Patel, his nominee to lead the FBI, are all controversial picks that will face off in the coming weeks to secure Senate confirmation.

“The US Senate should confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it,” Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming wrote on X shortly after the attack in Louisiana.

“That’s why it’s so important for President Trump to come into the cabinet,” Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, who Trump has tapped as his national security adviser, told Fox News on Thursday. “It has to be day one, guys, because this is a transition is a moment of vulnerability.”

Deep skepticism among Trump’s allies in US federal law enforcement also resurfaced after the New Orleans attack, with lawmakers close to the president-elect criticizing the FBI for its excessive focus on “diversity, equity and inclusion” and its role in the Justice Department’s prosecution of Trump.

Georgia Republican Mike Collins questioned why FBI Special Agent Alethea Duncan said the attack was not a “terrorist event.” Iowa Republican Ashley Hinson called out FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to testify about the attack in Congress.

“The FBI must restore the trust of the American people. That means FULL transparency and accountability in this investigation. It also means eliminating DEI and waking up distractions and focusing solely on countering threats to protect Americans,” Hinson wrote on X on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Biden spoke about the attack in New Orleans and the investigation from Camp David, and invited his home security team to discuss the latest developments on Thursday.

On Trump’s side, Waltz has been in touch with Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, but said they don’t have high hopes for the outgoing administration.

“They’re trying to gather information. But we’re not waiting for what we’re getting from this White House. Everyone has their own feelings so we can keep President Trump as informed as possible,” he said.