Trump designates Antifa as ‘major terrorist organization’

By CP StaffFriday, September 19, 2025Left wing protesters, some affiliated with Antifa, seen on July 25, 2021, in New York City. | Stephanie Keith/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump has announced that he’s designating Antifa as a “major terrorist organization,” marking a renewed push against the violent far-left group that echoes his earlier threats from his first term in office.“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 on Truth Social Wednesday night while on a state visit to the United Kingdom. The president said he plans on “strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.” The move finalized Trump’s announced plans earlier this week when he voiced support for branding the violent group a “domestic terror organization.” The White House did not offer further details on any political implications of the terrorist designation.   Despite the lack of details, Republican lawmakers like Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, praised the decision. “President Trump is right. ANTIFA is a dangerous, radical group that thrives on chaos and violence,” Harris wrote on X Wednesday. “Rightfully declaring them a terrorist organization will help protect our communities. It’s time to investigate those who fund them and stop the lawlessness once and for all.”GOP Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, also voiced approval. Scott wrote on X, “Antifa has gotten away with its evils and terrorized cities across our country for far too long. This was 100% the right move. Thank you, @POTUS!” Lee added, “ANTIFA is like a group of arsonists masquerading as firefighters. Thank you, President Trump, for designating ANTIFA as a major terrorist organization.”Short for “anti-fascist,” the Antifa movement rose to prominence after the 2017 “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a woman was killed after clashes between Antifa-style agitators and white supremacists turned violent. Known for their opposition to conservative and far-right ideologies, Antifa sympathizers were prominent among the counter-demonstrators, and the clashes drew national attention to the movement. In the aftermath, Trump blamed “both sides” for the violence but increasingly targeted Antifa in his rhetoric. That August, a White House petition garnered over 368,000 signatures urging the administration to classify Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. In response, the administration stated there was “no analogous mechanism” for designating domestic groups as terrorists, citing legal barriers similar to those facing the current effort. In 2019, journalist Andy Ngo was attacked in Portland by Antifa black bloc activists. Video footage of the event shows Ngo being physically attacked and hit in the head with hard objects. The beatings to his head caused a brain bleed that led to his hospitalization. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed during the first Trump administration that while Antifa is a “real thing,” it’s not an organization per se because of its decentralized nature.“We look at Antifa as more of an ideology or a movement than we do an organization,” Wray said during a Sept. 2020 hearing on Capitol Hill. “We do have quite a number of properly predicated domestic terrorism investigations into violent anarchist extremists, any number of whom self-identify with the antifa movement.”Wray’s position echoes that of civil rights groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), whose website features several references to Antifa as a counter-force to white supremacists and other conservative and right-wing movements. According to the ADL, “there is no unifying body for antifa,” which it claims has been the target of “persistent disinformation campaigns.”