WASHINGTON ‒ President Donald Trump warned that Americans on the political right eventually "won't take it anymore" amid escalating political violence in the United States and suggested they might respond by targeting the left with violence.

"It's going to get worse and ultimately it's going to go back on them," Trump said in the Oval Office on Sept. 25 in response to a question from a reporter. "Bad things happen when they play these games."

Trump's remarks came after a gunman opened fire on Sept. 24 at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, killing one detainee and injuring two others. Trump quickly blamed rhetoric from "radical-left Democrats" for the shooting, which came two weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking on a college campus in Utah.

"The radical left is causing the problem. They're out of control," Trump said. "I'll give you a little clue. The right is a lot tougher than the left of the right is not doing this. And they better not get them energized because it won’t be good for the left. And I don't want to see that happen either."

Trump added: "It will be a point where other people won't take it anymore. And that will not be good for the radical left."

Authorities on Sept. 25 identified the gunman as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene

In writings found at this home, Jahn wrote that he "targeted ICE agents and ICE personnel" and "hoped to minimize any collateral damage or injury to the detainees," according to Nancy Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo showing bullets with the words "ANTI-ICE" inscribed on them. He said the FBI also recovered a handwritten note from Jahn that read, "Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, 'is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?'"

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin pointed to rising violence nationwide against ICE agents amid the president's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Vice President JD Vance on Sept. 24 told a North Carolina crowd that stopping political violence “starts, unfortunately, at the very top of the Democratic Party,” as he lashed out at the left in the wake of the shooting at a Dallas ICE facility.

Following the fatal Kirk shooting, Trump and his allies have largely ignored examples of political violence from the political right, including the June assassination of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, the home attack of Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, the April home arson targeting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

An analysis by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that 3,597 people were killed in politically-motivated attacks between Jan. 1, 1975 and Sept. 10, 2025. Nearly 3,000 of the deaths came from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

When excluding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the study found the political right accounted for about 61% of the deaths, followed by 23% from terrorists inspired by Islamist ideology, and 11% from the political left.

Contributing: Zac Anderson of USA TODAY

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'It won't be good for the left.' Trump warns of escalating violence after ICE shooting

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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