Trump Designates Antifa a 'Domestic Terrorist Organization' and Orders Investigations of Its Funders

On September 22, 2025, Trump signed an executive order declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization and directing agencies to use all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt and dismantle its operations, including prosecutions for material support. On September 25 he issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, which directs the National Joint Terrorism Task Force to investigate individuals and entities engaged in political violence, orders the attorney general to prosecute related crimes to the maximum extent permissible by law, directs the Treasury to identify and disrupt financial networks, and requires the IRS commissioner to investigate whether tax-exempt organizations are financing political violence and to refer those organizations and their officers to the Justice Department. The memorandum names "anti-fascism" as an organizing principle and lists anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity and "extremism on migration, race, and gender" among the indicators agencies are to track.

Federal law provides a statutory process for designating foreign terrorist organizations but no equivalent mechanism for domestic groups, and the order cites no statute conferring that power. The Brennan Center notes that a former FBI director and the Congressional Research Service have described Antifa as a decentralized movement rather than an organization. Directing tax and financial-surveillance tools at entities identified partly by ideology raises First Amendment questions distinct from prosecuting violent acts, which existing criminal law already permits.

Both actions drew immediate legal criticism, and civil liberties groups signaled challenges to enforcement taken under them.