Washington — On Friday, U.S. counterterrorism officials are set to convene with international allies to explore ways to intensify efforts against terrorist threats, with a particular focus on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, according to a White House representative.
President Trump has recently endorsed a new counterterrorism strategy aimed at aggressively targeting Islamist terror organizations, drug cartels, and violent domestic political factions.
Seb Gorka, the White House National Security Council’s senior director for counterterrorism, conveyed to reporters that the U.S. expects more significant contributions from countries that aspire to be recognized as “serious” global players.
“Our evaluation is straightforward: If you wish to be seen as a serious nation—whether by safeguarding tankers in the Strait of Hormuz or countering jihadi threats in Africa’s Sahel region—we anticipate greater involvement from you. The notion of America as the world’s sole superpower, responsible for shielding everyone from every threat, is unsustainable. We reject the idea of being the global police,” Gorka stated.
“During our discussions, we’ll delve into the new counterterrorism strategy and collaborate to determine, ‘How can you contribute in ways that align with our objectives?'”
Gorka elaborated on the U.S.’s new 16-page strategy, highlighting its focus on drug cartels, Islamist terror groups, and violent political organizations that hold ideologies characterized as “anti-American, radically pro-gender, or anarchist, such as antifa.”
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Gorka outlined the United States’ new 16-page strategy, saying it prioritizes drug cartels and Islamist terror groups, as well as violent political groups whose ideologies are “anti-American, radically pro-gender or anarchist, such as antifa.”
He declined to describe classified steps that will be taken, but said the administration will work to identify threats — and leaders and followers of violent or terrorist groups — and neutralize them by law enforcement efforts, kinetic means or by strangling their financial resources.
The strategy aims to incapacitate cartels until they can no longer bring drugs or trafficking victims into the U.S., Gorka said.
The administration will put pressure on the top five Islamist jihadi groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization, until they can no longer recruit terrorists, Gorka said. He said “stragglers” from ISIS in Syria and Iran have relocated to African nations, seeking “ungoverned space.”
The U.S. strategy also aims to cripple left-wing extremist efforts before innocent Christians and conservatives are killed, he said. It isn’t targeted at specific labeled groups, Gorka added, but targets anyone who thinks violence for political purposes is justified.
Gorka said: “We see a threat, we will respond to it, and we will crush it, whether it is the cartels, the jihadists, or violent left-wing extremists like antifa and like the transgender killers, the non-binary, the left-wing radicals who killed my friend Charlie Kirk.”
“We will not permit politically motivated violence in the United States from either side of the aisle, but the sad truth is the left has far more politically motivated assassinations or attempted assassinations, to its credit in recent years, not the right.”
