Trump designates Antifa a domestic terrorist organization by executive order, directing all federal agencies to investigate and disrupt the movement
President Trump signed a presidential order on September 22, 2025, formally designating "Antifa" as a domestic terrorist organization and directing all executive departments and agencies to use all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle operations by anyone claiming to act on behalf of Antifa. The order describes Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization engaged in political violence to suppress lawful political activity, despite Antifa being a decentralized political stance rather than a formal membership organization. The U.S. has no statute authorizing domestic terrorist organization designations equivalent to the foreign terrorist organization framework, making the order a purely executive — and constitutionally contested — designation.
Actors
On September 22, 2025, President Trump signed a presidential order formally designating "Antifa" as a domestic terrorist organization and directing all executive departments and agencies to use every applicable authority to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle operations by anyone claiming to act on behalf of the movement. The order was published in the Federal Register on September 25, 2025, as Presidential Document 2025-18709. The document describes Antifa as "engaged in political violence to suppress lawful political activity," and requires all federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to treat Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization for purposes of investigation and prosecution.
The United States has no statutory authority equivalent to the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation framework under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act for domestic groups; that law covers only foreign organizations. No act of Congress authorizes the executive branch to designate domestic movements as terrorist organizations, making Trump's order an entirely executive — and constitutionally contested — action. Antifa is a political stance and decentralized movement rather than a formal membership organization with identifiable leadership, financing, or command structure. The Department of Justice and FBI have used the order as a charging predicate despite these structural limitations: the DOJ brought its first federal terrorism indictment under the designation against two individuals for a July 4, 2025, attack on a Fort Worth ICE facility (archived: October 16, 2025), and a December 2025 Bondi Justice Department memo operationalized the designation as a basis for investigating Americans expressing opposition to immigration enforcement and related political viewpoints.
The Standing records this as the originating executive act directing the federal law enforcement apparatus against a constitutionally protected political movement without statutory authority. The presidential order created the legal predicate subsequently used in documented terrorism prosecutions, making the signing itself the beginning of an ongoing pattern of viewpoint-based law enforcement.
Why we recorded this
No U.S. law creates a domestic terrorist organization designation analogous to the Foreign Terrorist Organization framework under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act — the designation requires an act of Congress, not an executive order. By designating Antifa through presidential order without statutory authority, the Trump administration created an enforcement predicate used to bring federal terrorism charges against political opponents. The archive records this as the originating executive action that directed the full apparatus of federal law enforcement against a constitutionally protected political stance, establishing the legal basis later used in documented prosecutions.
Sources
- Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization (Presidential Document 2025-18709) — Federal Register primary accessed June 22, 2026
See also
- JTF Southern Spear killed 3 aboard suspected narcotics vessel in Caribbean; 2nd strike, ~[N] campaign deaths
- Trump signs NSPM-7 directing DOJ and FBI to investigate political beliefs as domestic terrorism indicators
- Trump federalizes Oregon National Guard over Gov. Kotek's explicit objection, orders 200 troops to Portland ICE facility
- Trump federalizes 300 Illinois National Guard troops over Gov. Pritzker's objection, deploying state forces for immigration enforcement
- OMB deletes GEFTA back-pay guarantee from shutdown guidance, claiming furloughed workers not entitled to statutory protection