Trump signs NSPM-7 directing DOJ and FBI to investigate political beliefs as domestic terrorism indicators

On September 25, 2025, President Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), titled "Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence." The directive instructed the Department of Justice, FBI, and over 4,000 Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel across federal, state, and local agencies to identify, investigate, and "disrupt" individuals and organizations based on political speech and ideology. NSPM-7 designated "anti-Christian," "anti-American," "anti-capitalist," and "support for overthrow of the United States Government" beliefs as terrorism "indicators"—authorizing investigation of citizens before any violent act occurs.

The memorandum's targeting was asymmetric: it pointedly excluded January 6, 2021 and right-wing political violence from its domestic terrorism framework, focusing exclusively on left-wing political activity. It also directed Treasury and the IRS to trace funding streams of target organizations, enabling the political weaponization of tax enforcement. FBI Director Kash Patel publicly pledged to "FOLLOW THE MONEY… chase them down like the domestic terrorists that they are." Attorney General Pam Bondi's Justice Department was directed to prioritize NSPM-7 investigations across U.S. attorney districts.

Legal experts and civil liberties organizations raised immediate constitutional objections. NSPM-7 created no new statutory authority but signaled aggressive use of existing counterterrorism statutes to target political opponents. The ACLU found that NSPM-7's targets were broad enough to encompass mainstream political criticism, civil rights advocacy, and protest. The directive's authorization of "pre-crime" investigation—before any violent act occurs—represented a post-Cold War first in peacetime domestic counterterrorism enforcement.