President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday attributed the recent deadly truck attack in New Orleans to “radical Islamic terrorism” and President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, even though the suspect was an American-born veteran with no ties to immigration.
While Trump did not explicitly mention the New Orleans incident, his remarks strongly implied he was referring to the attack that left 14 people dead and dozens injured. The suspect, a Texas native, had reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIS in videos before the attack.
“I’ve warned repeatedly that radical Islamic terrorism and escalating violent crime would reach unimaginable levels in America,” Trump stated on his social media platform. “That moment is here—worse than we ever anticipated.”
Trump also criticized President Biden’s leadership, calling him a “complete disaster” and accusing him of implementing an “open border policy,” though he did not clarify any specific connection between the attack and immigration.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was a 42-year-old military veteran born in Beaumont, Texas. Officials confirmed he was not an immigrant. Jabbar served in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2015, later transitioning to the Army Reserve until 2020. He completed a tour in Afghanistan and was employed by Deloitte in Houston since 2021.
In videos recorded during his journey from Houston to New Orleans, Jabbar reportedly discussed personal issues and expressed support for ISIS. According to authorities, he intentionally drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, killing 14 people and injuring at least 35. A shootout with police ensued, during which Jabbar was killed. Two officers sustained injuries but are expected to recover.
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Investigators continue to examine potential connections between the New Orleans attack and a separate incident in Las Vegas, where an apparent suicide car bombing occurred outside a Trump-branded hotel just hours later.
In the Las Vegas incident, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty Army soldier, allegedly detonated a Tesla Cybertruck filled with explosives after reportedly shooting himself. The explosion caused limited damage, and no other injuries were reported.
Both attackers were U.S.-born military veterans who rented their vehicles through the car-sharing app Turo. Officials noted that both had served at Fort Liberty in North Carolina, though their time there did not overlap. As of Thursday, no definitive link between the two incidents had been established.