White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that President Donald Trump intends to sign an executive order later that day to designate antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, citing a pattern of violent acts linked to the far-left movement.
“Antifa is going to be designated a domestic terrorist organization,” Leavitt told reporters at the daily press briefing. “The president intends to sign that executive order very soon, as soon as it’s drafted, as soon as today, later this afternoon. And this is something the president campaigned on, because we have seen a rise in violence perpetrated by antifa, radical people across this country who subscribe to this group.”
Leavitt said the administration has documented numerous cases of antifa-linked violence, including some that received little attention from mainstream outlets and were “completely ignored by the previous administration.” She highlighted several recent incidents by antifa, which stands for anti-fascist:
- July 2025: Members of an antifa cell allegedly ambushed officers at an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas, shooting one in the neck.
- July 2025: Three antifa members were charged with assaulting a police officer during a violent riot outside another ICE facility in Portland, Oregon.
- February 2024: A transgender antifa supporter allegedly detonated an explosive outside the office of Alabama’s Republican attorney general.
- July 2020: Antifa members linked to the group Jane’s Revenge firebombed pro-life centers and vandalized churches.
- January 2022: A suspected antifa member was arrested for bringing a pipe bomb to a pro-Trump event.
- January 2021: An antifa supporter threatened to shoot police officers and Trump supporters outside Florida’s Capitol.
Leavitt also tied the movement to the recent assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk, noting that “bullet casings [were] subscribed with antifa mottos” at the scene.
Labeling antifa as a terrorist organization fulfills a Trump campaign pledge to crack down on what he has long described as organized left-wing violence.
“Not anymore,” Leavitt said of past inaction. “This is something the president campaigned on. … We should not ignore this serious threat to American safety and our national security.”
Trump signaled last week that his order was coming.
“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,” Trump wrote Wednesday, adding that he would “strongly recommend that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”
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