Trump Uses New Orleans Attack to Push Immigration Narrative, Despite Suspect's U.S. Citizenship

Donald Trump has faced criticism for leveraging a deadly New Year's Day attack in New Orleans to advance his narrative about the dangers of undocumented immigration. Despite the suspect being identified as a U.S. citizen, Trump has continued to assert that the incident validates his claims about "criminals" entering the country.

Following the attack, Trump took to Truth Social, stating that his previous claims about foreign criminals being "far worse" than domestic criminals had been proven correct. He expressed condolences for the victims and vowed support for New Orleans. These remarks came despite the suspect, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, being a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Texas.

Initially, Fox News inaccurately reported that the vehicle used in the attack had recently crossed the border from Mexico. This report was soon retracted, with the network later clarifying that the vehicle never crossed the border. Nevertheless, the initial misinformation contributed to a narrative linking the attack to immigration.

The FBI later confirmed Jabbar's identity and U.S. citizenship. The suspect, who reportedly was born in Texas, drove a rented truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. He died after exchanging gunfire with police.

Despite the corrected information, Trump has not retracted his initial statement. Instead, he has continued to use the incident to attack "open borders" and accuse U.S. law enforcement of focusing on political opponents rather than national security. In a subsequent post, Trump declared "TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!"

Several other prominent Republicans also used the tragedy to call for stricter border policies, echoing Trump's rhetoric. Senator Josh Hawley referenced initial, incorrect reports about the vehicle crossing from Mexico, while Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called for the border to be "shut down." None of these figures acknowledged the suspect's U.S. citizenship in their subsequent posts, highlighting the ongoing effort to link the tragedy to immigration despite the evidence.