President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he wants to designate antifa a major terrorist organization, escalating his administration’s crackdown on left-wing extremism.
On Truth Social, Trump described antifa as “A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.” He said he will be “strongly recommending” that individuals and groups funding antifa face thorough investigations under federal law.
The president’s remarks come just days after he said he would “100%” consider such a designation. Speaking in the Oval Office Monday, Trump accused antifa activists of being “professional agitators” tied to recent clashes with immigration enforcement. “Antifa is terrible,” Trump said. “These aren’t protests, these are crimes that they’re doing. They’re throwing bricks at cars of the ICE and Border Patrol. … They’re professional agitators. … They should be put in jail. What they’re doing to this country is really subversive.”
Authorities have increasingly linked antifa-aligned activists to violent tactics, including doxxing, property destruction, and assaults on political opponents. The announcement followed the Sept. 10 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, whose alleged killer left behind bullet casings engraved with “Hey fascist! Catch!” and a lyric from an anti-fascist anthem.
Trump pointed to that attack as evidence of the radical left’s growing threat. “We have a radical left group of lunatics out there, just absolute lunatics, and we’re going to get that problem solved,” he said on Sept. 11 before boarding Marine One.
Even as he pledged decisive action, Trump called for a measured public response, emphasizing that Kirk himself always urged non-violence in political debate.
