President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday reportedly escalated his war on the radical left, announcing that he is designating Antifa — a movement of dangerous far-left activists — as a “major terrorist organization.”
“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” the president declared in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
The announcement came as Mr. Trump was in the United Kingdom, where he had just attended a lavish state dinner. From abroad, he pledged to go further than symbolism, promising accountability for those who bankroll left-wing activism. “I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices,” he said. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The designation reflects a hardening of the president’s position toward the left in the wake of last week’s killing of Charlie Kirk, a prominent conservative activist and one of Mr. Trump’s close political allies.
The president has repeatedly blamed the “radical left” for Kirk’s murder, which authorities say was carried out by Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah resident.
Kirk, a fiery defender of Trump’s populist agenda, was instrumental in the president’s successful reelection effort last fall. His death has rattled conservative circles and given fresh urgency to calls for a crackdown on extremist groups.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump made clear that investigations were already underway. He told reporters that “left-leaning groups will be investigated” in connection with the killing and said “some organizations affiliated with the left are already being probed.”
The decision to designate Antifa carries political weight, though its practical enforcement remains unclear. Antifa has no centralized structure or formal leadership, complicating efforts to treat it as a conventional terrorist organization.
Still, senior administration officials have hinted in recent days that the White House is prepared to target the broader network of left-wing organizations it argues has helped stoke violence in American cities.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Trump had already signaled his intentions. Asked Monday if he would label Antifa as a domestic terrorist group, he did not hesitate: “It’s something I would do, yeah.”
By Wednesday, he had made the declaration official. For Mr. Trump, the announcement serves both as a policy marker and a message to his supporters that he is prepared to confront what he describes as a dangerous ideological enemy at home.
The president’s words carried the urgency of a country on edge, with rising tensions between political camps and ongoing unrest following Kirk’s assassination. “I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots,” he wrote, framing his action as a defense of ordinary Americans against radical elements.
As Mr. Trump departed from his formal duties overseas, his message reverberated back home: in his eyes, the threat of the far-left has reached the level of terrorism — and his administration is preparing to treat it that way.
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