In a recent social media post, former President Donald Trump sparked controversy by sharing a provocative message suggesting that Afghans would react violently to modern technology like a Nespresso machine, allegedly perceiving it as witchcraft.
The message originated from Robert O’Neill, a former Navy SEAL credited with the killing of Osama bin Laden. O’Neill’s post on the platform X expressed opposition to the immigration of Afghan nationals to the United States, implying they would not understand Western technologies or customs.
O’Neill wrote, “If you’ve never been to Afghanistan, you wouldn’t understand. If you showed these people a Nespresso machine and gave them a free coffee, they would assume you were a witch and chop off your head… But let’s bring ’em in!”
President Trump amplified this message by reposting it on Truth Social on Saturday. This followed an incident involving an Afghan national, who had been evacuated from Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, allegedly shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.
The post ignited a heated online debate, with O’Neill facing criticism for his views on immigration. The former Navy SEAL has previously stirred controversy by claiming he alone was responsible for killing bin Laden and has been vocal about his support for Trump, particularly endorsing the former president’s immigration policies targeting predominantly Muslim countries during his first term.
The Navy Seal veteran previously described himself as a Trump supporter and defended the president’s ban on immigration from ‘majority-Muslim’ countries during his first term.
‘Donald Trump… he has a big heart and sometimes he speaks a little loosely but he’s just tryna protect [America],’ O’Neill told Good Morning Britain in 2017.
‘It takes ten minutes of talking with a GWOT (global war on terrorism) veteran to understand the atrocities they witnessed over there,’ one user commented under O’Neill’s post.
The president reshared a post on Truth Social on Saturday that claimed Afghans would believe a person with a Nespresso machine to be ‘a witch’ and they would ‘chop off your head’
The post, originally created by former Navy Seal Robert O’Neill, claimed that Afghan nationals would behead someone for giving them ‘a free coffee’
O’Neill controversially claimed sole responsibility for the killing of Osama bin Laden and appeared to oppose immigration from Afghanistan in his post
Another rebutted: ‘You’ve NEVER been there. I don’t mean physically; I mean interacting with them like human beings, being invited into their homes, having casual conversations, buying street food etc. Your experience there is of a hate-filled invader, he kills indiscriminately, then returns.’
Another user saw the lighter side and joked: ‘I myself always wonder how they make those awesome espressos out of little cups? Nespresso is pretty witchy.’
The attack in Washington DC on Wednesday saw Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, shot in what the president described as a ‘savage attack.’
Beckstrom was killed in the shooting, while Wolfe is in hospital being treated for his wounds.
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said that she believed the two ‘were sworn in less than 24 hours before they were shot on the street’.
‘[Beckstrom] was savagely attacked. She’s dead. She’s not with us,’ Trump said on Thanksgiving. ‘[Beckstrom was] outstanding in every single way, in every department. Just horrible.’
The suspected gunman was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, who was said to have come to the US as part of the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome program in 2021.
Around 85,000 Afghans, many of whom had aided American forces in Afghanistan, were settled in the US after troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
Wolfe, 24, and Backstrom, 20, were said to have been sworn in just 24 hours before they were shot on Wednesday
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was named as the alleged gunman in custody over the horror shoot-out
Prior to Lakanwal’s arrival, the suspect worked with the US, including the CIA, ‘as a member of a partner force in Kandahar,’ John Ratcliffe, the spy agency’s director said.
He did not specify what work Lakanwal did, but said the relationship ‘ended shortly following the chaotic evacuation’ of US servicemembers from Afghanistan.
Trump described the shooter as an ‘animal’ and vowed that they would ‘pay a very steep price.’
Pirro said that the lone gunman was armed with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver when he allegedly opened fire on the two ‘without provocation, ambush style.’
She said: ‘One guardsmen is struck, goes down, and then the shooter leans over and strikes the guardsmen again. Another guardsmen is struck several times.
‘Fellow guardsmen who were there responded immediately, engaging the suspect, neutralizing the threat and subduing him at the scene.’
The motivation for the shooting remains unclear.
The following morning, immigration requests from Afghanistan were halted by the Trump administration. Trump also ordered a ‘full-scale, rigorous reexamination’ of green card holders from 19 ‘countries of concern.’
DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro speaks during a press conference about the Wednesday afternoon shooting of two National Guard members
Pirro said that the lone gunman was armed with a .357 Smith and Wesson revolver when he allegedly opened fire on the two ‘without provocation, ambush style’
Joe Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, wrote in a post on X on Thursday: ‘At direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.’
Those countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CNN that ‘effective immediately’ the processing of all immigration requests to Afghan nationals ‘is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.’
‘The Trump Administration is also reviewing all asylum cases approved under the Biden Administration,’ she added.
