Washington, D.C., US – US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration would maintain a pause on asylum decisions ‘for a long time’.

“We don’t want those people,” Trump said. “You know why we don’t want them? Because many have been no good, and they shouldn’t be in our country.”

The president said there was ‘no time limit’ for the pause.

The decision followed the shooting near the White House on Wednesday, which resulted in the death of a 20-year-old National Guard member and left another critically wounded.

Suspect ‘likely radicalised in US’

The suspect is a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the US in September 2021.

He faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the shooting.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Sunday that investigators believe the suspect was radicalised after arriving in the US.

“I will say we believe he was radicalised since he’s been here in this country,” Noem said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’.

Noem said authorities are seeking more information from his relatives and associates.

Suspect ‘granted asylum under Trump’

Authorities have also revealed details about the suspect’s background. After the shooting, the administration said there was insufficient vetting of Afghans and other foreign nationals under former President Joe Biden.

However, the suspect was reportedly granted asylum in April 2025.

He was a former member of a CIA-backed Afghan ‘partner force’ unit fighting the Taliban.

He had been living in Bellingham, Washington state, roughly 80 miles (about 120km) north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, according to former landlord Kristina Widman.

DW