Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guards shot near White House dies; Trump says other soldier ‘fighting for life’

US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Nov 27) revealed that Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two National Guard troops shot near the White House a day earlier, had died. The second soldier, he said, remains in critical condition and was "fighting for his life". Trump said he was informed of Beckstrom's death moments before a Thanksgiving video call with US troops. He described the slain National Guardsman as "highly respected, young, magnificent person". The POTUS said that "The other young man, is fighting for his life. He's in very bad shape". Meanwhile, his government said it would review the permanent residency status of immigrants from 19 countries, including Afghanistan.

'A savage monster'

"I want to express the anguish and the horror of our entire nation at the terrorist attack yesterday in our nation's capital," said Trump during the Thanksgiving video call with US troops. Calling the shooter a "savage monster" he announced that 20-year-old Beckstrom has succumbed to her injuries. Linking the shooting to his decision to send National Guard troops to Washington, Trump insisted, "If they weren't effective, you probably wouldn't have had this done."

"Maybe this man was upset because he couldn't practice crime," he speculated.

Afghans no longer welcome in the US?

After the horrific shooting the Trump administration had ordered an immediate halt to the processing of immigration applications from Afghanistan. However, later on Thursday, Joseph Edlow, Trump's director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said that he had ordered a "full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern."

Later, his agency cited a list of 19 countries, like Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, and Myanmar, that are already subject to US travel restrictions from a Trump order issued in June.