Trump Suspends Immigration After Guard Attack, Holiday Economy, Retail Spending

One of the two National Guard members shot allegedly by an Afghan man in Washington, D.C. has died.

In response, President Trump says he wants to permanently suspend immigration from certain countries. We'll hear which ones could be affected.
I'm E. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.

With the holiday season in full swing, consumer confidence in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in months.

High prices, tariffs, and the recent government shutdown have all contributed contributed to these feelings, and many blame the president and his administration.

We get it, and we hear you, and we know that there's a lot of work to do. There's a lot of wood to chop.

Yet, despite these worries about the economy, retail sales this holiday season are expected to top $1 trillion for the first time. So, how do those two things square up together? Stay with us.

We'll give you all the news you need to start your day.

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One of the National Guard members shot during an attack Wednesday in the nation's capital has died. Sarah Beckstrom was 20 years old.

In the wake of this violence, the Trump administration is also launching a sweeping re-examination of thousands of refugees and migrants allowed into the U.S. and given green cards.

The move targets legal residents from Afghanistan and at least 18 other countries. NPRs, Brian Mann, joins us now.
Brian, first, tell us about Sarah Bextrom.

Yeah, she was an Army specialist from Somersville, West Virginia. She joined the service in 2023.
And speaking last night, President Trump described her as an incredible person in every single way.

He made the announcement Bextrom had died during a conference call with military leaders. She's no longer with us.
She's looking down at us right now.

Her parents are with her.

It's just happened.

She was savagely attacked. She's dead.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrissey said Bextrom showed strength and character that defined the very best of the West Virginia National Guard.

A second Guard member, 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe, is still in critical condition after undergoing surgery. And Trump said last night that Wolfe is fighting for his life.

Okay, now about the alleged gunman. Any clues on why?

We don't know a motive for this attack. Federal officials say Rachmanullah LeConwald drove across the U.S.

from his residence in Washington state, then allegedly attacked these guard members with a handgun. LeConwal served in Afghanistan alongside U.S.
forces.

A nonprofit group that works with refugees called Afghan EVAC issued a statement saying LeConwal was part of an elite counter-terrorism group that had ties to the CIA.

Yesterday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed LeConwal was allowed into the U.S. And I'm quoting here due to his prior work with the U.S.
government, including the CIA.

He applied for asylum in the Biden years and was granted asylum protection in April of this year under the Trump administration. And President Trump has had a lot to say about immigration policy.

Absolutely. President Trump posted yesterday on social media that he plans to pause migration into the U.S.
from what he described as all third world countries.

He called for an effort to denaturalize migrants and deport foreign nationals. In a separate statement posted on a social media, John Edlow, head of U.S.

Citizenship and Immigration Services, said he's launching a full-scale, rigorous examination of every green card for aliens from every country of concern.

That appears to target 19 countries that include Afghanistan, but also completely unrelated countries like Haiti, Sierra Leone, and Venezuela.

The Trump administration's narrative here appears to be that LeConwal was allowed into the U.S. without proper vetting, suggesting this could be a widespread problem.

Here's FBI Director Cash Patel speaking yesterday.

This individual is in this country for one reason and one reason alone, because of the disastrous withdrawal from the Biden administration and the failure to vet any way, in any way, shape, or form.

This individual and countless others.

But sources, including that nonprofit group, Afghan EVAC, have told NPR that LeConwal would have been scrutinized repeatedly in Afghanistan and also before coming to the U.S.

Experts say refugees allowed into the U.S. were vetted, and that process was later audited by the FBI and other agencies.
They found it to be an imperfect but thorough and competent review process.

And experts also point out the fact that the majority of refugees from Afghanistan are living in the U.S. peacefully.
That's NPR's Brian Mann. Brian, thanks.
Thanks so much.

Now that the Thanksgiving table has been cleared, retailers have their eye on Christmas, but a lot of shoppers are a little uneasy this year.

A report this week from the Federal Reserve suggested consumer spending had dipped since the last Fed meeting in October. Only wealthy shoppers are spending money with abandon.

NPR Scott Horsley is here to sort out the good, the bad, and the lingering question marks in today's economy.

Scott, okay, so we've heard from lots of people who aren't feeling too thankful about the economic situation right now. So is that rumble being felt and heard at the White House?

It is. Consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level in seven months.

There's a lot of grumbling about high prices, tariffs, and political dysfunction in the wake of the six-week government shutdown.

And that gloomy sentiment is weighing on the president's approval rating. A Fox News poll last week found three out of four people have a negative view of the economy, and most blame the president.

That does have the administration on the defensive. In an interview with Breitbart last week, Vice President J.D.
Vance urged people to be patient.

My message to the American people who are still feeling like things are unaffordable, who are still feeling like things are rough out there, is, look, we get it, and we hear you, and we know that there's a lot of work to do.

There's a lot of wood to job. But there's not a lot of faith right now that patience is going to pay off.

In that consumer confidence survey, people across the political spectrum said they think economic conditions will be worse six months from now, not better. Not worse, not better.

What are people worried about?

Well, partly it's the job market. You know, the jobs report we got last week was not terrible.

It showed hiring in September was stronger than expected, but it also showed hiring in July and August was weaker than we had thought, and the unemployment rate has been creeping up.

Of course, the other big worry is the cost of living. You know, beef prices are up, electricity prices are up.

Inflation has been steadily climbing since the president announced his worldwide tariffs back in April.

You know, after Republicans took a beating in the elections earlier this month, we actually got a tacit admission from the White House that tariffs do raise prices.

The administration agreed to roll back some of its import taxes on things like coffee and bananas.

Right now, policymakers at the Federal Reserve are divided over which of these two things is the bigger concern, the softening job market or stubborn inflation.

Scott, the President loves to tout and talk about the stock market. It hit record highs this year, but I've always wondered what the stock market has to do with the actual economy.

Well, that's a good question. The stock market is doing well, even with some of the recent ups and downs.
Stocks are up for the year.

The Dow is up more than 9 percent since Trump went back to the White House. The S ⁇ P is up more than 13 percent.

But most of those gains flow to the wealthiest Americans who own the lion's share of stocks.

And Fed Governor Chris Waller says wealthy people are also doing the lion's share of the spending right now.

While the booming stock market is supporting spending by a narrow band of well-off consumers, It does not reflect financial conditions for most Americans. And that is a vulnerability for the economy.

We've been hearing from a lot of restaurants and retailers that low and middle income families are much more cautious about their spending right now, which is of course a challenge for those businesses.

And because personal spending is such a big part of GDP, it could be a challenge for the broader economy as well. All right, so that's personal spending.
What about business spending?

Businesses are spending a ton of money in one area, and that's artificial intelligence.

That is propping up GDP, but some skeptics are starting to wonder if all that massive investment is ever going to pay off. And if it does, whose jobs might be eliminated in the process?

That's NPR Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks.
You're welcome. Today is Black Friday, and with consumer sentiment the lowest in months, there's an unusual juxtaposition happening with spending.

The National Retail Federation says sales this holiday season will top $1 trillion for the first time in history. So how do those two things square with each other?

To answer that, we've got NPR's Alina Seljuk here to tell us. Alina, you're a retail correspondent.
This has got to be like the Super Bowl for a football reporter. It's a pretty big day.

I am also looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow? Wait, wait, why tomorrow? Is that when people stop asking you about all the Black Friday great deals?

Are you going to ask me that? Yes, the script says I must ask you that. So go ahead.
I'm so glad you asked. I would say that this year generally, discounts are expected to be deeper than in the past.

And it's actually exactly because of what you said earlier that shoppers are not feeling so hot about the economy and their financial prospects.

And so retailers are really eager to get us to loosen up and to spend, which means they might roll out some steep sales this weekend next. Perfect.
Now, we started with some good news.

Now to that big question, how is it that people are both anxious about the future and also planning to spend more than ever? That kind of doesn't seem to square up.

Well, you might think it's just because of higher prices, but these forecasts suggest people are planning to shop more too. And one reason is actually simple.
It's that people love the holidays.

We saw this with record-setting Halloween sales.

Talking to shoppers, I kept hearing how people just wanted to have this joy, this time with family, a reprieve from worrying about inflation and tariffs and the government shutdown.

But typically, I do want to say that spending we're seeing now is not like the free-for-all we were seeing during the pandemic with those stimulus dollars.

Shoppers are really focused on getting the best deal. Yep, I'd rather get two pairs of sneakers than one if I can get a good deal, right? I mean, so is it like buying stuff on sale?

Is that kind of what's going on?

that's yeah that's definitely a big part of it um we've also seen it at the grocery store like uh people really rejecting higher prices on name brands snacks and sauces this has been a huge year for store brands and another example is this clear hesitancy to throw that one more thing into your basket like here's an example i heard from jessica betancourt she runs clem's general store in massachusetts Customers have maybe pulled back to not buy some of those add-on items that they would have normally bought.

So they're coming in and buying dog food, but maybe not buying two dog toys to go with it.

So maybe for the holiday, that means fewer stocking stuffers or also a lot fewer treat yourself kind of gifts this year. Like normally I would buy hand creams for women in my family.

And this year, I actually skipped buying myself one like I usually do. I would normally buy a velvet track suit, but then, you know, I need to have one over here.
Now, okay, so you're scaling back.

Overall, though, we're spending a record amount of money. Are we back at that contradiction that we were kind kind of talking about?

I think we are. And the key here is who's doing the shopping.
Most of the spending has been propped up by wealthier people, while others are trying to tighten their budgets.

So you see these two things happening at the same time. You see discount stores like TJ Maxx and Dollar General doing really well, but so is Coach on the higher end and Ralph Lauren, which is luxury.

And overall, experts will point out what's happening is that for now, people have jobs. Unemployment is not skyrocketing.
And wages have been growing faster than inflation.

And that's where people are getting their budgets for the holidays. A, I think there might be crowds at the mall this weekend.
So you should start thinking about that velvet track suit now.

Oh, I never stop thinking about it. That's NBR, Zelena Salukalina.
Thanks a lot. Thank you.

And that's a first for Friday, November 28th. I'm E.
Martinez. Do you sometimes find yourself endlessly scrolling on your podcast app, trying to decide what to listen to next? Well, we can help.

We want to be your stand-in friend to really pick some of the gems that might not be ones that pop up on your feed, but are still really worth a listen.

They're the episodes that make you want to take the long way home, right?

This weekend on the Sunday story, Lauren Gonzalez from NPR's Pod Club newsletter has some recommendations for your next great podcast, Listen. That's this weekend right here in Up First.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jerry Holmes, Julia Redpath, Emily Kopp, H.J. Mai, and Alice Wolfley.
It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Katie Klein.

We get engineering support from Andy Huther. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott.
Our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Join us again on Monday.
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