National Guard shooting suspect to be arraigned Wednesday
National Guard soldiers respond to a shooting near the White House on November 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. At least two National Guardsmen have been shot blocks from the White House. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The man accused of ambushing West Virginia National Guard members near the White House in November, killing one and severely wounding another, is set to be arraigned in court on Wednesday.
Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe suffered a gunshot wound to the head and remains in recovery.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, faces nine charges, including first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm, and has pleaded not guilty.
Lakanwal was one of thousands of Afghans evacuated to the United States after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, his application for asylum was approved in 2025 under the Trump administration.
Court documents say Lakanwal shot Beckstrom and Wolfe in the back of the head with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. A National Guard major returned fire, and another Guard officer subdued Lakanwal. Wolfe is still recovering and will have cranioplasty, or skull reconstruction surgery, in March, according to Melody Wolfe, his mother.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she is seeking the death penalty. Lakanwal’s attorney declined to comment.
In Afghanistan, Lakanwal was affiliated with a so-called Zero Unit, working closely with the CIA and special operations, ABC News reported in December. He was considered a trusted member of the unit, which carried out U.S. counterterrorism missions, officials with direct knowledge explained.
Investigators believe Lakanwal was under financial strain after his work permit expired and may have been experiencing a mental health crisis, sources told ABC News.
Investigators are also examining whether the recent death of an Afghan commander Lakanwal had worked with and might have admired may have worsened his mental and emotional state, according to sources.
The two guard members were a part of President Donald Trump’s surge of troops into Washington, D.C., for law enforcement. After the shooting, the president deployed an additional 500 guard members into D.C. where some 2,600 are currently deployed performing civic duties like cleaning garbage off the street and patrolling the city’s tourist spots and parks and Metro rail stations.
The guard deployment will last through 2026, two officials told ABC News in January.
The Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., Jan. 17, 2026. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(RICHMOND, Va.) — Early voting begins Friday in an unusual off-cycle election in Virginia that could have major implications for control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
Voters in Virginia are heading to the polls for a statewide election, set for April 21, on a constitutional amendment that would allow their legislature to redraw the state’s congressional map.
This would let the Democratic-controlled legislature implement a new proposed map that would make four GOP-held congressional districts favor Democrats. Given the razor-thin margins of the House — where Democrats only need to net three seats in November to regain control — even flipping that many seats in Virginia could be decisive for control of the chamber.
It’s a gambit that Democrats both in Virginia and nationally say is necessary after Republican-led redistricting in 2025 gave the GOP nine redrawn seats that now favor Republicans across four states.
Former President Barack Obama, in a video released Thursday to promote a yes vote on the amendment, claimed that Republicans pursued mid-decade redistricting “for a simple reason: to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms this fall … This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall.”
Republicans have called the plan to redraw seats a political power grab, decrying the move as going against the will of voters in Virginia who previously voted in favor of a redistricting commission.
Rep. Ben Cline, one of the Virginia Republicans whose seat is among those targeted, wrote on X on Wednesday, that “The Democrats’ plan to steal Congressional seats and disenfranchise Virginians is unconstitutional, but we’re going to have to defeat it at the ballot box on April 21.”
Democrats in Virginia’s legislature have already passed their proposed congressional map through the legislature and it has been signed by the governor; it gets implemented if voters approve the amendment. While the map is technically not on the ballot, Democrats have argued that it’s important that voters see the new lines that they are essentially voting on.
Virginia’s Supreme Court ordered twice to let the election proceed in the face of legal challenges to how Democrats passed the amendment through the legislature, although litigation continues to play out.
US President Donald Trump, left, and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, during an announcement in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. Trump launched a new website to help Americans directly buy select medicines at a discount, . (Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled his TrumpRx website in an event at the White House, listing 40 drugs at lower cost than previous list prices to patients paying out of pocket and calling the launch part of the “most transformative health care initiatives.”
Trump made the announcement alongside Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and National Design Studio Director Joe Gebbia.
“Starting tonight, dozens of the most commonly used prescription drugs will be available at dramatic discounts for all consumers throughout a new website is called TrumpRx.gov,” Trump said at the White House event.
Some of the reduced cash prices were announced last year by the administration and some of the new prices had already gone into effect.
The president touted the use of his Most Favored Nation (MFN) policies — making sure the U.S. isn’t paying more than other countries — for making the lower prices possible.
“For years, politicians from both parties have promised to bring down prescription drug prices and make health care more affordable, but they all failed,” Trump said.
According to the TrumpRx website, these drugs can be obtained at participating pharmacies using coupon card codes displayed on the website or directly through manufacturers’ websites.
The website also notes that “TrumpRx discounted pricing is only available for cash-paying patients,” in a FAQ section. The discounts are not available for patients trying to pay through insurance and do not go toward insurance deductibles.
Only a few dozen drugs are offered on the website, though the website says that “many more drugs are coming soon,” in a FAQ section.
What some experts are saying
“It’s nice that they are aggregating coupons in one place,” Benjamin Jolley, PharmD, a senior fellow for health care at the American Economic Liberties Project told ABC News. “But it’s a convenience to check the website to see the coupons all in one place for the first time.
Dr. Christina Madison, the founder of The Public Health Pharmacist told ABC News: “There are a lot of patient assistance programs out there and this appears similar to programs like GoodRX but the difference here is that you would not have to go through the manufacturer’s website to get them.”
In a statement, Good RX tells ABC News they are a key integration partner for pharma companies that is offering discounted cash prices on TrumpRX, “The self-pay price is hosted on the GoodRx platform and GoodRx then integrates the price into TrumpRx.”
GoodRX-provided codes can currently be used at over 70,000 retail an home delivery pharmacies.
How much will consumers save?
Trump said the discount offers “tremendous” savings.
But experts say the overall savings are not clear and may only benefit a certain group of people.
“TrumpRx’s offerings are very limited, fewer than 50 drugs listed,” Rena Conti, an associate professor at the Boston University Questrom School of Business, told ABC News.
“This suggests it pays for consumers to check their insurance coverage and ask their regular doctor or pharmacist before they use this service,” Conti added.
The website boasted savings on GLP-1s, showing that the Wegovy pill’s lowest TrumpRx price was $149 a month, slashed from what the website says is an original price of $1,349. And while the full cash price of Ozempic and Wegovy (FDA approved for weight loss) did start at over $1,000 a month, those prices have been slowly going down in price. It was reduced voluntarily first to $499 in March 2025 and then to $199 in November after negotiations with the federal government.
Some drugs remain very expensive, including Xeljaz, which is marked at a starting price of $1,518, despite a 50% savings.
Fertility drugs
One of the big categories of drugs included in TrumpRx are fertility drugs.
According to the website, Gonal-F is available for an 83% discount, down from $966 to just $168 for the pen. Another IVF drug, Cetrotide, is offered at a 93% discount. And Ovidrel is offered for a 67% discount.
“One in three families is having trouble having a baby. We’re gonna have a lot of Trump babies with these costs, folks cannot afford these medications. It’s gonna change their lives,” Oz said during the White House event.
“The fertility drug discount is legitimately a big deal for people trying to get IVF,” Jolley said. “These medicines are quite expensive and this seems like a big discount. In general IVF is not covered by insurance and so people prior to this who needed certain drugs would be paying the full $1400 price.”
Jolley noted for example, that the price slash on certain fertility drugs could lower the cost of an IVF cycle by about 20% overall.
Trump first revealed his administration’s goal of launching the website back in September when he announced that Pfizer had agreed to lower its prices for prescription drugs offered through Medicaid. Pfizer so far is the largest participant in Trump RX with over 30 medications listed.
Trump last month released his “Great Healthcare Plan,” in which he called on Congress to codify the “most favored nation” initiative.
The plan also proposed sending money directly to Americans to buy health insurance and included calls to increase price transparency and hold insurance companies accountable — though it largely lacked specifics.
Polls show most Americans are concerned about health care costs.
A survey last month from KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization, found two-thirds of U.S. adults worried about being able to afford health care for them and their family — outranking other expenses like gas and groceries. A majority of Americans, 56%, said they expect health care to become less affordable in the coming year.
The poll also found that two-thirds of Americans said Congress “did the wrong thing” by allowing enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits to expire. Millions of Americans were expected to face increased premium costs as a result of the lapse.
ABC News’ Eric Strauss, Michelle Stoddart, Emily Chang and Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
Michael Banks, chief of the US Border Patrol, speaks during a news conference in Nogales, Arizona, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (Ash Ponders/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Michael Banks, the head of U.S. Border Patrol, is stepping down, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott confirmed on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
