Posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” adding that he would “strongly” recommend investigations into those who finance it.
The message appeared late at night UK time while the US leader was on a visit there. He has recently signaled action against left-wing groups he blames for promoting political violence.
Critics note that Antifa — an anti-fascist movement with roots in Germany — is a loose constellation of groups without a central structure or leadership, rather than a conventional organization.
Trump pursued a similar step during his first term in June 2020 after unrest following George Floyd’s death, but did not follow through amid internal resistance, including from then-FBI director Christopher Wray.
Wray argued that designating a domestic organization as terrorist would infringe constitutional freedoms. Wray later told Congress Antifa was “a movement or an ideology,” not a group.
It remains unclear what Trump’s announcement would mean in practice. US law recognizes “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTOs), a category that enables broader prosecutions for material support and financing, including outside the United States, as there is no formal category of “major terrorist organization.”
Administration officials have signaled in recent days that they will target what they describe as a coordinated left-wing effort to incite violence. Some Democrats have protested, alleging Trump is creating a pretext to curb dissent.
Antifa did not appear among the 95 “designated foreign terrorist organizations” listed on the State Department website on Thursday.
(jh)
Source: Reuters, PAP, CNN, AFP