Trump Declares War on Left With "Domestic Terrorist" Designation
Luigi Mangione fans singled out in White House memo
Donald Trump today designated Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization” — the first such designation ever, as far as I can tell.
In an explainer released by the White House, it says that “Antifa’s terror is part of the trend of Radical Left violence.” The title, “President Trump Isn’t Backing Down from Crushing Radical Left Violence,” doesn’t leave much room for interpretation.
Without ever defining what Antifa (short for Anti-Fascist) is as an organization, Trump’s executive order directs the federal government to “investigative, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations” conducted by the group. Trump’s previous FBI Director, Christopher Wray, said once that Antifa is “more of an ideology or a movement than an organization.”
But in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, national security officials tell me, the Trump administration feels especially empowered to focus its ire on the so-called radical left, even though, as I’ve written, it isn’t at all clear that the alleged Utah shooter was left or right.
The “designation” is normally used for “foreign terrorist organizations,” which are defined in law. Such a designation not only focuses law enforcement and intelligence on such organizations (e.g., Hamas, Al Qaeda, ISIS), but also unleashes international sanctions and investigations into finances and movement.
The White House is trying to cast its new counterterrorism focus as on some kind of radical fringe, but in an least one of the examples they point to, I can think of a lot of people online that it might apply to. Have you expressed an opinion that this administration would construe as having “celebrated” Luigi Mangione? If so, you could be a target of Trump’s new war on the so-called radical left.
The federal government, long before Trump took office, has been writing threat reports about Antifa and other “extremists” on the left. Now, with this designation, it seems intent on another war on the American people.
In an attempt to paint a picture of this supposed insurgency (calling it "an “epidemic of Radical Left violence”) the White House released the timeline at the bottom of this article, stretching back to 2017 and including events during the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media seems stuck in “fact-checker” pedant mode, having declared just days ago that the terrorism label was technically impossible (see headlines below). It is a continuation of the news media’s lazy framing of Charlie Kirk’s shooter as some garden variety leftist. The major media simply are not up to the task of covering national security matters in a way that can actually keep up with the frantic pace of this administration. We are up to it, and I hope you’ll consider subscribing for updates and to support this work!
— Edited by William M. Arkin
"Meanwhile, the mainstream media seems stuck in “fact-checker” pedant mode, having declared just days ago that the terrorism label was technically impossible."
This is a mistake I keep seeing by supposedly smart people. Trump's declarations are always so vague that they could mean anything at all. Smug liberals keep assuming that they have him bound down by rules, and that therefore his pronouncements mean nothing. In fact, he sets the rules (and liberals comply), so that his pronouncements mean whatever he wants them to, and he can retroactively determine what they mean (or are seen to have meant) from day to day.
Antifa isn't an organization, there are no members, so it is up to Trump and his federal police to decide who is a member or supporter, and what acts constitute (or are retroactively determined to have constituted) support.
Boy, I can't wait until the FBI comes to interview me for being anti fascist. 😂 I sincerely hope the FBI agents tasked with coming to harass me at my abode understand how heartily I intend to laugh in their faces. If not fascists, then why do fascist things?