President Donald Trump listens as Jessica Gorman, mother of Sheridan Gorman, speaks during an event on the economy at Rockland Community College Fieldhouse in Suffern, New York, on May 22, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski – AFP / Getty Images)
By Samuel Short June 18, 2026 at 5:30am
The family of a slain university student disclosed a detail some may find shocking about their conversation with President Donald Trump — the president was not politicking or working an angle, but expressing genuine compassion over the loss of a loved one.
Sheridan Gorman was a student at Loyola University Chicago, taking classes as a freshman when the 18-year-old’s life was taken in March.
She was shot and killed while she was with her friends at Rogers Park Beach — and the alleged killer, 25-year-old Jose Medina, allegedly entered the country illegally from Venezuela in 2023, per a report by WLS.
Obviously, tragic incidents like this make the blood boil of every American — including the president — as her death was preventable.
This seems to be yet another sorrowful result of former President Joe Biden’s failures to secure the border, deport illegal aliens, and keep the deported from reentering.
Prosecutors alleged Medina jumped out of bushes near the group, opening fire and fatally wounding Gorman in the neck.
After the shooting, the Gorman family sat down for an interview with Fox News on “The Story with Martha McCallum,” where Gorman’s mother Jessica spoke on their conversation with the president.
“President Trump called us, and despite what people might think, he did not say one thing political. He just basically held us. His whole team calling out, wonderful supportive things.”
“He spoke to us as a father and grandfather.”
BEAUTIFUL: Sheridan Gorman’s mom had HUGE praise for President Trump after he personally called her following her daughter’s kiIIing by an illegal
“President Trump called us and despite what people may think, he did not say ONE THING political. He just basically held us.”
“He… pic.twitter.com/4o8nkoPazU
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 7, 2026
Per WLS, Gorman said she did not want her daughter’s death to become political, but has made a point to speak out. Fox News included comments from her daughter’s vigil in which she told the crowd, “I want to say this gently, but honestly, as a mom, I’m angry.
“I’m like completely heartbroken, and we are going to fight for justice for our sweet Sheridan, and we’re going to fight for change.”
Trump made it a major part of his platform during the 2024 campaign to rein in the madness that was Biden border and immigration policy.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement have worked fast despite leftist agitators, ideologues, and outright terrorists endangering their lives, but we still hear gut-wrenching stories like this.
Democrats, upon hearing about the contents of this phone call, will likely be in disbelief.
The president seems to eat, sleep, and breathe politics. Remember he was a businessman first, and seemed to step into the political arena only after a long career outside of it.
We wouldn’t by any means call him a “career politician” like Biden, who started his long tenure in the Senate in 1973.
Our current president anticipated many existential threats to our nation, and illegal immigration proved to be one of them.
It was for Gorman, and in many ways still is, a life-or-death issue.
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Sam Short is an Assistant Professor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the views or opinions of Motlow State Community College.
