Donald Trump Jr. bashed The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board as “RINOs” for condemning his father’s “collective punishment” of Afghans after one refugee ambushed two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C.
“Give me a f—ing break,” wrote the president’s 47-year-old son on X Friday morning. “The RINOs at the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board want us to be flooded with millions of America hating migrants who don’t share our values.”
“This is a good reminder that it’s not just Democrats responsible for this – It’s the globalist RINOs too,” he added.
“RINO,” which stands for “Republican In Name Only,” is a favorite insult of President Donald Trump, who has hurled it at Republicans who oppose some aspects of his agenda, including Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Thomas Massie, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
In the editorial that drew the first son’s ire, the The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board wrote, “The alleged shooting by an Afghan ‘partner’ shouldn’t condemn all who assisted the U.S. and now live here.”
The suspect in the National Guard shooting, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was a former member of the Afghan army who worked alongside U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. He came to the U.S. in 2021 under President Joe Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome” legislation, a Biden administration initiative launched after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan following the U.S. military withdrawal. The Trump administration granted him asylum in April 2025.
National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died in Wednesday’s attack. Fellow National Guard member Andrew Wolfe, 24, is in critical condition.
Lakanwal’s nationality has already led Trump to threaten all Afghan refugees. Trump, 79, said on Truth Social he would “permanently pause migration” from “all Third World Countries.” He also ordered a “review” of all green card recipients from “countries of concern.”
The Trump administration outlined 19 “countries of concern” in a June presidential proclamation. They include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow confirmed that he would conduct the review on Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal editorial, published in the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper on Thursday afternoon, argues that it would be foolish to deny asylum to all refugees because of the actions of one man, saying that doing so would hurt the U.S. in future foreign conflicts.
“Some will say this means the U.S. should never admit such refugees, but the alternative is abandoning allies who assist Americans in war to the retribution of our enemies,” writes the Journal’s editorial board.
“You can be sure Americans will fight overseas again, and our troops will need allies on the ground to succeed. How many will assist us if they believe there will be no exit for them if the U.S. leaves with the enemy triumphant?”
The Journal, which has published multiple editorials criticizing Trump administration since Trump returned to the White House in January, also argued that the refugees who already live in America peacefully should not be blamed for Lakanwal’s alleged crime.
“Tens of thousands are building new lives here in peace and are contributing to their communities. They shouldn’t be blamed for the violent act of one man. Collective punishment of all Afghans in the U.S. won’t make America safer and it might embitter more against the United States,” the Journal concludes.
In his Thursday Truth Social post, Trump said he wanted to “deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.” He noted that “only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”
In the same post, he used a slur when insulting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for protecting Somalis in the state, writing, “The seriously ret—ed Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both.”
There is no known connection between Somalia or Minnesota and Lakanwal, who allegedly drove from the state of Washington to carry out his attack.
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