WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will designate antifa, a left-wing activist movement, as a “major terrorist organization,” intensifying his administration’s stance against far-left groups.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described antifa as “A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER” and said he would be “strongly recommending” that individuals who fund the movement be investigated “in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”
The announcement followed comments Trump made Monday in the Oval Office, where he said he would “100 percent” consider the designation and accused antifa participants of being “professional agitators” amid his administration’s immigration crackdown.
“Antifa is terrible,” Trump told reporters. “These aren’t protests, these are crimes that they’re doing. They’re throwing bricks at cars of the ICE and Border Patrol. … They should be put in jail. What they’re doing to this country is really subversive.”
Antifa — short for “anti-fascist” — is a decentralized movement without formal leadership or membership. Supporters say they oppose fascism, white supremacy and far-right extremism. Critics, however, have faulted self-identified members, who often dress in black clothing and masks, for using tactics including violence and intimidation.
The president’s announcement also came in the wake of the September 10 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, which Trump linked to radical far-left activism.
Authorities said bullet casings recovered near the suspected murder weapon were engraved with the phrases “Hey fascist! Catch!” and “Bella ciao bella ciao ciao,” the latter a reference to an anti-fascist song popularized by the Italian resistance in World War II.
“We have a radical left group of lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we’re going to get that problem solved,” Trump said September 11 before boarding Marine One.
Trump also called on Americans to respond peacefully to Kirk’s death, emphasizing that Kirk himself had long urged against political violence.
