Move Intensifies Federal Crackdown and Calls for Investigation into Financial Backers
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday formally designating Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization,” following up on a social media announcement made last week. The order, which was made public on Tuesday, directs all relevant federal departments and agencies to “utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations” conducted by the group.
The executive order, titled “DESIGNATING ANTIFA AS A DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” outlines the administration’s rationale for the action. “Antifa is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law,” the order states.
It goes on to describe the group’s actions as a “campaign of violence and terrorism nationwide,” citing “coordinated efforts to obstruct enforcement of Federal laws through armed standoffs with law enforcement, organized riots, violent assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement officers, and routine doxing of and other threats against political figures and activists.”
The order also explicitly calls for the investigation of those who provide material support to Antifa, stating that the administration will take “necessary investigatory and prosecutorial actions against those who fund such operations.”
This action marks a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s posture toward the loosely organized, far-left movement. While President Trump had previously threatened to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, the signing of the executive order puts a formal process in motion.
The executive order defines Antifa as a “militarist, anarchist enterprise” and asserts that its coordinated efforts to “achieve policy objectives by coercion and intimidation is domestic terrorism.”
It remains to be seen how the Justice Department and other federal agencies will interpret and implement the order, given the lack of a clear legal precedent for this kind of domestic designation. The order itself includes a general provision stating that it “shall be implemented consistent with applicable law,” a clause that legal observers say underscores the potential for future court battles.
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