President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday declaring the loose anti-fascist movement known as antifa a “domestic terrorist organization,” a move legal experts say has no precedent in U.S. law and signals a sweeping crackdown on political dissent.
The order claims antifa “uses illegal means to organize and execute a campaign of violence and terrorism nationwide to accomplish these goals.” It accuses the movement of “coordinated efforts to obstruct enforcement of Federal laws through armed standoffs with law enforcement, organized riots, violent assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement officers, and routine doxing of and other threats against political figures and activists.”
Citing this “pattern of political violence,” Trump declared, “I hereby designate Antifa as a ‘domestic terrorist organization.’” The order directs federal agencies to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle” operations the administration claims are linked to antifa, including efforts to prosecute “those who fund [antifa] operations.”
The administration’s accompanying factsheet emphasized anti-ICE protests and claimed that “ICE officers are now facing a 1000 percent increase in assaults against them,” a figure officials have repeated without presenting evidence.
The U.S. government has no framework for designating domestic groups as terrorist organizations. “There is no framework to designate an organization as a domestic terrorist organization,” Faiza Patel, director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told NPR before the order was announced.
Legal analysts note that while providing “material support” to foreign terrorist organizations is illegal, there is no comparable statute for domestic movements. Antifa itself is not a structured group with leaders or membership but a decentralized label used by activists opposing fascism and far-right extremism.
Christopher Mathias, author of the forthcoming book To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right, wrote for MSNBC that “Nearly every word in the president’s post was a lie. Antifa isn’t an organization. There is no legal statute with which to declare antifa a ‘major terrorist organization.’ Nor does antifa have a network of rich, shadowy benefactors who can be unmasked. (What little money antifa’s practitioners do have typically comes from their own pockets.)”
The order is part of what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described as Trump’s “planned targeting of left-wing groups” in the wake of the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Though there is no evidence linking Kirk’s murder to left-wing activists, the administration has invoked the killing as justification for new restrictions.
Leavitt highlighted bullets recovered from the scene that she said were engraved with anti-fascist slogans, one reportedly reading, “Hey Facist! Catch!” She also linked antifa to what she called “violent crimes… perpetuated by Antifa, radical people across this country who subscribe to this group.”
Leavitt framed the designation as the beginning of broader actions, declaring, “We will be most importantly looking at who is funding Antifa and who is funding these other violent left-wing groups.” She also attacked Democratic lawmakers, claiming, “Many Democrats in elective office have now been totally captured by a radical fringe of the far left face who want to dehumanize every person they disagree with. We must continue to call this wickedness out. It’s the only way that our nation can heal.”
Trump himself had previewed the move in a social media post last week, writing, “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. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices!”
The designation follows other administration moves to narrow constitutionally protected activity. The day before Kirk’s death, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told the Center for Media and Democracy that “videotaping ICE law enforcement and posting photos and videos of them online is doxxing our agents.” She added, “We will prosecute those who illegally harass ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law.”
In July, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem broadened the government’s definition of “violence” against ICE officers, claiming it included “anything that threatens them and their safety, so it is doxing them, it’s videotaping them where they’re at when they’re out on operations.”
Recording public officials in public spaces, including law enforcement, is protected by the First Amendment. Critics warn that the administration’s new framing risks criminalizing journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau also posted on social media following Kirk’s death, urging Americans to report foreigners who “praise” or “make light of the event” to the State Department. “In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” he wrote. “Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the @StateDept can protect the American people.”
Trump first raised the idea of designating antifa as a terrorist organization during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, following the police killing of George Floyd. Legal experts have consistently argued the move would face constitutional challenges.
Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” has historical roots in movements opposing Benito Mussolini in Italy and resisting White supremacist groups in Europe during the Cold War. In the U.S., it represents a diffuse label applied to local groups and individuals with no national structure. Unlike right-wing extremist organizations such as the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers, antifa has no leadership or command hierarchy.
The administration’s attempt to label antifa a terrorist organization, despite lacking a legal mechanism, signals a broader strategy to suppress political opposition. As Patel warned, the government “does not have a framework” for such a designation, raising the likelihood of legal challenges while immediately escalating political pressure on left-wing activists and protest movements.
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