US President Donald Trump on Monday defended the arrest of a Palestinian-origin student protester and recent Columbia University graduate who helped lead a pro-Palestinian encampment in April 2024, calling it “the first arrest of many to come.” 

The POTUS shared news of the arrest in a joint post by the official Instagram accounts of POTUS and the White House that read “Shalom, Mahmoud.” The same phrase, which is used in Hebrew both to greet people and to bid them farewell, with “shalom” meaning “peace”, was also reposted by the White House’s official X account. 

According to Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyer Amy Greer, the young man was “wrongfully arrested” on Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who stormed his university-owned residence and claimed his student visa was revoked — even though Mahmoud is a legal permanent resident and Green Card holder. 

She accused the US government of specifically targeting students at Columbia University who were critical of Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestine’s Gaza. 

Khalil’s deportation from the US has since been blocked by a federal judge in Manhattan. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at a federal court in New York City.