President Trump said Tuesday that Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, the National Guard member who survived last month’s ambush attack in the District of Columbia, got up from bed.
Mr. Trump said he received a call from Staff Sgt. Wolfe’s mom, who shared the news that her son “stood up.”
“Today I got a call that he got up from bed. Do you believe that? He got up,” Mr. Trump said to thunderous applause from the crowd in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, where he was delivering a speech about the U.S. economy.
“Now he didn’t speak. He’s not ready for that,” Mr. Trump said. “But he got up and, boy, [his family] is so happy. It’s amazing.”
Staff Sgt Wolfe was shot in the head the day before Thanksgiving. An Afghan national is accused of opening fire on him and another National Guard soldier, just blocks from the White House. His colleague, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom was killed in the attack.
They had been deployed to Washington as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
Mr. Trump called the incident a terror attack and lamented that doctors saved the suspect’s life, only for prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in the case.
“Think of it. He was also badly injured, and they’re fighting to save his life so that we can give him the death penalty. How crazy is that?” Mr. Trump said.
The suspect in the attack, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, made a virtual court appearance last week from a hospital bed.
Mr. Lakanwal, who was also shot during the Nov. 26 shooting, was charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill while armed, possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
On Saturday morning, Staff Sgt Wolfe’s mom, Melody, participated in a video update on his physiological progress with West Virginia National Guard’s adjutant general, Major Gen. Jim Seward.
“He’s coming along well, surpassing expectations,” the mother said in the video posted to the West Virginia National Guard’s Instagram page. “Sedation is coming off, they’re scaling back on his pain medication.”
