Trump says he’ll designate antifa as a terrorist group but offers few
details
[September 18, 2025]
By SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said early Thursday that he
plans to designate antifa as a “major terrorist organization.”
Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for
far-left-leaning militant groups and is not a singular entity. They
consist of groups that resist fascists and neo-Nazis, especially at
demonstrations.
It’s unclear how the administration would label what is effectively a
decentralized movement as a terrorist organization, and the White House
on Wednesday did not immediately offer more details.
Trump, who is on a state visit to the United Kingdom, made the
announcement in a social media post shortly before 1:30 a.m. Thursday
local time. He called antifa a “SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.”
He also said he will be “strongly recommending” that funders of antifa
be investigated.
Antifa is a domestic entity and, as such, is not a candidate for
inclusion on the State Department’s list of foreign terror
organizations. Dozens of groups, including extremist organizations like
the Islamic State and al-Qaida, are included on that list. The
designation matters in part because it enables the Justice Department to
prosecute those who give material support to entities on that list even
if that support does not result in violence.
There is no domestic equivalent to that list in part because of broad
First Amendment protections enjoyed by organizations operating within
the United States. And despite periodic calls, particularly after mass
shootings by white supremacists, to establish a domestic terrorism law,
no singular statute now exists.
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend their
visit to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England,
Wednesday Sept. 17, 2025. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)
In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump
said he would pursue a domestic terrorism designation for antifa if
such a move had the support of Attorney General Pam Bondi and others
in his Cabinet.
“It’s something I would do, yeah,” Trump said. ”I would do that
100%. Antifa is terrible.”
Wednesday night, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., praised Trump's
announcement, saying: "Antifa seized upon a movement of legitimate
grievances to promote violence and anarchy, working against justice
for all. The President is right to recognize the destructive role of
Antifa by designating them domestic terrorists.” In July 2019,
Cassidy and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a resolution in the
Senate to condemn the violent acts of antifa and to designate the
group a domestic terror organization.
In 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, Trump also
raised the idea of designating antifa as a terror organization.
Trump’s previous FBI director, Christopher Wray, said in testimony
that year that antifa is an ideology, not an organization, lacking
the hierarchical structure that would usually allow it to be
designated as a terror group by the federal government.
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