President Donald Trump recently highlighted a provocative social media post suggesting that Afghans might react violently to unfamiliar technology, like a Nespresso machine, by assuming witchcraft was involved.

The post was originally shared by Robert O’Neill, a former Navy SEAL, who is known for claiming he was the one who killed Osama bin Laden. O’Neill’s message on X appeared critical of allowing Afghan refugees into the United States.

“If you’ve never been to Afghanistan, you wouldn’t understand,” O’Neill stated. “If you showed these people a Nespresso machine and offered them a free coffee, they might think you were a witch and behead you… Yet we’re bringing them here!”

Trump amplified the conversation by resharing the post on Truth Social. This action followed an incident in Washington DC where an Afghan refugee, who had been evacuated during the 2021 US withdrawal from Kabul, was involved in a shooting incident involving two National Guard members.

O’Neill’s remarks have sparked considerable debate online, as he continues to be a controversial figure due to his claims about the bin Laden operation and his outspoken views on immigration.

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.