President Donald Trump is designating the far-left Antifa movement as a terrorist organization.
‘I am pleased to inform our many USA Patriots that I am designating Antifa, a sick, dangerous, radical left disaster, as a major terrorist organization,’ he wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday night.
‘I will also be strongly recommending that those funding Antifa be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.’
Antifa, short for ‘anti-fascists,’ is an umbrella term for left-leaning militant groups. They consist of groups that resist fascists and neo-Nazis, especially at demonstrations.
There is no unifying body for the anti-fascist movement, making it difficult to determine the exact number of members.
It is not immediately clear how the administration would label the decentralized movement as a terrorist organization.
Trump first floated the idea of designating Antifa during his first presidential term in 2020, when protests erupted across the nation in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
But Trump’s previous FBI director, Christopher Wray, said at the time that Antifa is an ideology rather than an organized entity.
President Donald Trump said he is designating the far-left ANTIFA movement as a terrorist organization
Antifa, short for ‘anti-fascists,’ is an umbrella term for left-leaning militant groups (pictured: anti-fascist groups burning a flag in 2021)
He said Antifa lacks the hierarchical structure that would generally allow it to be designated as a terror group by the federal government.
After Trump’s post, Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy praised the announcement: ‘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.’
Cassidy, along with Texas Senator Ted Cruz, introduced a resolution in 2019 to condemn the violent acts of Antifa and designate the group a domestic terror organization.
‘Antifa is a group of hateful, intolerant radicals who pursue their unhinged agenda through aggressive violence,’ Cruz said in a 2019 statement.
‘Time and time again their actions have demonstrated that their only purpose is to inflict harm on those who oppose their views.
‘The hate and violence they spread must be stopped, and I am proud to introduce this resolution with Senator Cassidy to properly identify what Antifa are: domestic terrorists.’
In the resolution, the two senators pointed to instances of Antifa members assaulting journalists and others during riots in Berkeley, California.
Trump described the Antifa movement as ‘sick and dangerous’ (pictured: 2021 protestors setting a flag on fire)
Trump, who is currently visiting the United Kingdom, declared his plans for Antifa a week after conservative activist Charlie Kirk (pictured), 31, was assassinated
They also wrote that ICE agents were ‘subjected to doxxing and violent threats.’
The Wednesday decision comes shortly after Trump said he was contemplating branding Antifa a terrorist organization and stripping the tax-exempt status of left-leaning nonprofit groups, according to the Wall Street Journal.
He also said he wants to use his executive power to target nonprofit groups with violating anticorruption laws.
‘Antifa is terrible. There are other groups,’ Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday. ‘We have some pretty radical groups, and they got away with murder.’
When asked whether he would assign a domestic terrorism label to Antifa, Trump responded, ‘It’s something I would do, yeah.’
Administration officials across different departments are also seeking to identify organizations suspected of targeting conservatives and right-wing causes.
Officials told WSJ that individuals who have targeted law enforcement for enforcing Trump’s mass deportation operation could be labeled as domestic terrorists.
Trump, who is currently visiting the United Kingdom, declared his plans for Antifa a week after conservative activist Charlie Kirk, 31, was assassinated.
The White House is seeking to identify organizations suspected of targeting conservatives and right-wing causes (pictured: an anti-fascist flag)
Robinson (pictured) is believed to have held left-wing ideologies, which may have led him to allegedly kill the conservative firebrand
Investigators believe the suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, 22, holds far-left, anti-fascist political ideologies.
The MAGA firebrand was fatally shot in the neck from 200 feet away while speaking in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 people at Utah Valley University on September 10.
It was the first stop of his American Comeback Tour, in which he planned to travel around the nation to visit college campuses and debate with liberal students.
Authorities have deemed Kirk’s untimely death a political assassination.
The bullets found loaded in the murder weapon were engraved with transgender and anti-fascist ideologies, according to investigators. One bullet was allegedly inscribed with the phrase: ‘Hey fascist, catch!’
Former Trump advisor Steven Bannon is convinced Kirk’s killer did not act alone, despite what investigators said.
On an episode of his War Room podcast, Bannon suggested the suspect was a part of the larger Antifa movement.
‘You’ve got to get to the bottom of these groups, you’ve got to get to the bottom of Antifa, you’ve got to see if there’s any connections to Butler [where Thomas Crooks attempted to kill Trump on July 13, 2024, in Pennsylvania],’ he said.
In July 2025, Ted Cruz (pictured) introduced the Stop FUNDERS Act, which would allow the Department of Justice to press RICO Act charges on rioters and the people and groups funding violent protests
In July 2025, Cruz introduced the Stop FUNDERS Act, which would allow the Department of Justice to press RICO Act charges on rioters and the people and groups funding violent protests.
‘Every American has the right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, but not to commit violence,’ Cruz said at the time.
After Kirk’s death, the act gained support from FBI Director Kash Patel.
‘I urge the FBI and the Department of Justice follow the money,’ Cruz told Fox News on Wednesday.
‘This violence we’re seeing, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, was horrific.
‘This follows a string of politically motivated violence, including the Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots of several years ago.’
