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Trump insists he was ‘right about everything’ despite falsely tying New Orleans attack to immigration

At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured when a truck drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day

Gustaf Kilander
in Washington D.C.
Thursday 02 January 2025 17:24 GMT
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Related video: New Orleans Attack Witness Describes Terrifying Moment Truck Headed Right Towards Him

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President-elect Donald Trump has insisted that he was “right about everything” after falsely connecting the New Orleans attack to migrants.

“Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World!” Trump said on Truth Social. “This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership.”

At least 14 people have been killed and dozens were injured when a truck drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Authorities have said that they believe the driver wasn’t “solely responsible.”

The FBI has said that the suspect - 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar - is an army veteran from Texas. He died after exchanging gunfire with police. Officials added that the suspect had made videos before the attack in which he said he had joined ISIS.

Trump added that federal agencies such as the Department of Justice and the FBI, as well as “Democrat state and local prosecutors” haven’t done their jobs, going on to call them “incompetent and corrupt.”

The president-elect argued that they shouldn’t be focused on attacking him but instead “protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself.”

“Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to our Country. The CIA must get involved, NOW, before it is too late,” he added. “The USA is breaking down - A violent erosion of Safety, National Security, and Democracy is taking place all across our Nation. Only strength and powerful leadership will stop it. See you on January 20th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

“TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING,” Trump added in a subsequent post.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump incorrectly linked the New Orleans attack to immigration
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump incorrectly linked the New Orleans attack to immigration (Getty Images)

On Thursday morning, Trump wrote in yet another post on his social media platform that “With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe.”

“That time has come, only worse than ever imagined. Joe Biden is the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER,” he added. “What he and his group of Election Interfering ‘thugs’ have done to our Country will not soon be forgotten! MAGA.”

Trump incorrectly linked the New Orleans attack to immigration even as authorities said the man responsible was from Texas and a veteran of the U.S. Army.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Trump said on Wednesday morning on Truth Social.

“The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before,” he added. “Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”

Trump’s outburst came after a Fox News report, which has since been retracted, incorrectly stated the suspect’s truck had crossed into Texas from Mexico two days before. The truck, which was rented via the site Turo, had entered the U.S. from Mexico on November 16. At the time, it was being driven by a man without any connection to the attack on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, the authorities said there was no connection between the attack and the U.S.-Mexico border.

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, noted that the FBI is looking into the attack as “an act of terrorism,” with the agency saying that an ISIS flag was found on the truck.

The FBI said it’s “working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.”

“Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter,” the federal law enforcement agency added.

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