The Department of State is set to bring together governments from around the world to address the rise in far-left political terrorism.
During the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, the governments will discuss such terrorism as a “transnational threat” and seek to expand “coordination, enhance information sharing, and strengthen international law enforcement mechanisms to counter the threat,” the State Department explained.
Citing historical trends, the State Department noted that most cases of “politically motivated terrorism” were carried out by far-left groups between 1970 and 1980, where 93% of attacks were conducted by such entities. During that same time, 58% of terrorism-related deaths were at the hands of far-left organizations.
“Far-left anti-government terrorism now accounts for more attacks and plots in the United States than any other ideological category,” the State Department added. “Far-left actors were responsible for 63% of all recorded anti-government attacks or plots as well as three out of the four anti-government fatalities in the United States in 2025.”
A State Department official told reporters, “This has been a blind spot for a lot of our partners, frankly. They have not seen these trends … since the 1970s. Our partners have talked to us about the rise of assassinations or assassination plots.”
Last year, the State Department designated the Germany-based group Antifa Ost, along with three other Antifa groups in Italy and Greece, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
“Groups affiliated with this movement ascribe to revolutionary anarchist or Marxist ideologies, including anti-Americanism, ‘anti-capitalism,’ and anti-Christianity, using these to incite and justify violent assaults domestically and overseas,” the Department said at the time.
Update July 16 at 10:36 a.m. PT:
Discussing radical left terrorism during the event, Rubio said, “It has always been driven by a hatred — above all else, a hatred for civilization itself.”
He described the activity as a “revolt of the worst against the best, a revolt of the weak and the cowardly against the strong and the good.”
“It is perpetrated by those who cannot build, who cannot create, who cannot create great things, and take revenge upon the world for their own inadequacy by seeking to destroy those who can,” Rubio said. “This is what radical leftism is.”
