Washington, September 23, 2025 — The Europe Today: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday officially designating the Antifa movement as a domestic terrorist organization.
The executive order describes Antifa as “a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.” It further states that the movement’s organized efforts to achieve policy objectives through coercion and intimidation constitute domestic terrorism.
Legal experts have noted that the executive order raises questions regarding its legal basis, as there is currently no statute under US law allowing for the formal designation of domestic terror groups.
Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is widely recognized as a political ideology and movement rather than a structured organization with a fixed leadership or membership. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress in 2020 that Antifa is considered “more of an ideology or a movement than an organization.”
President Trump had announced his intention to blacklist Antifa last Wednesday via a social media post, describing the movement as “a sick, dangerous, radical left disaster” and promising a thorough investigation into its activities. He also stated he would recommend investigations into individuals or groups funding Antifa in accordance with the highest legal standards.
The order comes in the aftermath of the recent killing of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, with the White House attributing responsibility for political violence to left-wing groups, including Antifa, despite critics noting that no official motive or group has been implicated in the incident. Studies also indicate that right-wing actors are responsible for the majority of politically motivated violence in the United States.
The White House statement accompanying the executive order listed 11 violent incidents over the past eight years allegedly linked to Antifa, including the July shooting of an immigration enforcement officer and a 2017 event at the University of California, Berkeley, where Antifa radicals reportedly threw rocks at police and attacked attendees of conservative political gatherings.
