Morning Brief: Capital Attack Fallout, No Aid For Illegals, & Venezuelan Airspace Closed?

The Trump administration tightens immigration restrictions following a fatal attack on National Guardsmen, illegal alien access to federal benefits comes under scrutiny, and is the United States about to strike narco-terrorists on Venezuelan soil?

It’s Monday, December 1, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire:

Trump Launches Immigration Crackdown After D.C. Shootings

Topline: The tragic shooting of two National Guard members from West Virginia by an Afghan national has triggered a massive immigration response from the Trump administration. And the president does not appear to be done with his sweeping actions.

Over the course of last week and then into the weekend, President Donald Trump has taken a series of aggressive actions in response to this attack, about which some very harrowing details continue to emerge.

The attack: Police say the 29-year-old suspect approached with a revolver and was shooting at a point-blank distance. He was also reportedly shouting “Allah Akbar!”

One heroic guardsman, armed with only a pocketknife, was able to stop the shooter. The guardsman heard the gunfire, charged the shooter, and then stabbed him with the knife.

Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old woman who was one of the guardsmen shot in the attack, died as a result of her injuries. The other guardsman who was shot, Andrew Wolf, is still fighting for his life. There continues to be an outpouring of support and prayers for his recovery and his family.

The suspect was also severely wounded, but he is expected to survive.

Where the prosecution stands: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said that the charges have been upgraded to first-degree murder since Beckstrom’s death. Pirro said that this appears to be a case of an ambush-style attack. The FBI is even looking at this as a possible act of terrorism.

In response, President Trump said he is considering dispatching 500 more troops to the nation’s capital to keep the peace, doubling down on his earlier executive order to protect the city and quell crime.

The suspect: He came into the United States as part of Operation Allies Welcome, launched by the Biden administration after the botched 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. Many soldiers, including Afghan and American soldiers, were killed during that process, and the Taliban was able to retake the country.

The suspect fought with a group of elite Afghan fighters known as “Zero Units.” They were all so-called “death squads” working with the CIA to help fight the Taliban. A friend of the suspect’s told the New York Post that he suffered from serious mental health issues as a result of his years in combat.

Immigration crackdown: Trump has said the United States is not admitting any more Afghan nationals. The president has ordered a review of how Afghans were vetted during and after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Notably, tens of thousands of Afghan nationals came to the United States as refugees following the withdrawal.

The State Department has said it is refusing visas to Afghan nationals until it conducts further vetting of the country. The president has said that he will “deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

Trump Steps Up Enforcement Against Illegals Receiving Benefits

Topline: The Trump administration is working to remove federal benefits for people who are in the country illegally.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he will “end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens.” He added that many recent arrivals depend on taxpayer-supported welfare programs while coming from “failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels.”

Bessent’s turn: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved to implement the president’s order. Bessent said that his department is working to cut off federal benefits to illegals and stressed that these must be preserved for American citizens.

Specifically, Bessent said the Treasury “will issue proposed regulations clarifying that the refunded portions of certain individual income tax benefits are no longer available to illegal and other non-qualified aliens.”

The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also issued an alert to better crack down on the exploitation of the U.S. financial system by illegals who are seeking to move illegally obtained funds. 

The department said that over the past several years, the United States has witnessed a “significant volume of cross-border funds transfers, including remittances” from illegals.

MN Somalis: City Journal has reported in detail on a massive fraud scheme in Minnesota under the tenure of Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, where billions of taxpayer dollars intended for social services were funneled through fake nonprofits and shell companies, and — alarmingly — some of that money ended up in the hands of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

Much of the fraud has been traced back to Minnesota’s Somali community, where fraudsters have allegedly exploited numerous loopholes in the state’s welfare system. But the story has been overlooked for a long time.

“I think it’s fair to say there was an unwillingness or inability from Democratic state officials in Minnesota to recognize some pretty obvious alarm bells here. Claims were skyrocketing, spiraling out of control,” said investigative reporter Ryan Thorpe, who helped break the story. “The reality is, the Somali community … is a voting bloc you have to win if you’re going to win political office in Minneapolis.”

Trump Clears The Skies Over Venezuela

Topline: Tensions in the Caribbean are escalating after President Trump announced that the airspace over Venezuela should be considered closed. The announcement has raised new questions over potential U.S. strikes inside Venezuela amid the president’s war on drug cartels.

The situation around Venezuela appears precarious. Trump on Saturday posted on Truth Social: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

That post has again sparked predictions about when airstrikes could occur.

“We should read into it that strikes are very probably going to occur over the course of this week,” retired Admiral James Stavridis told CNN. “When you hear the president of the United States throw that warning out there, to me it sounds like strikes are coming probably sooner rather than later.”

The fallout: Venezuela’s foreign minister called Trump’s post an “extravagant, illegal, and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela.” A country can’t actually close another country’s airspace, but that seems to be a technicality in this situation.

Ten days ago, the FAA had already warned about a “potentially hazardous situation” for flights over Venezuela. Commercial air traffic has avoided the area since. Venezuela has said that U.S. migrant repatriation flights have stopped.

Diplomacy? The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, spoke by phone recently. Trump confirmed the call on Sunday while speaking to reporters on board Air Force One. Trump did not provide details, but the call represents a shift after the U.S. cut off diplomatic talks in October.

Reportedly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on the call, as well, and Trump and Maduro spoke of the possibility of a meeting, which would be a significant shift after Trump called on Maduro to step down and authorized CIA operations in Venezuela.

Allies of the president have maintained that this is a drug operation–a very intense one, but one that will not lead to war.