President Donald Trump signed Thursday a sweeping presidential memorandum instructing the federal government to launch an aggressive campaign against what his administration describes as “left-wing terrorism” and “organized political violence.”
The document, classified as a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM), directs agencies including the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the Department of Justice, the Treasury, and the IRS to coordinate investigations of networks, funders, organizations and individuals the administration claims support politically motivated violence.
The White House fact sheet portrays the move as a comprehensive new strategy to counter domestic threats cloaked in political activism, claiming the effort will span recruitment, radicalization, funding streams, and acts of violence or intimidation.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly linked recent violent incidents, such as the high-profile assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas this week, to a broader conspiracy of leftist violence, though any documented links tying those acts to organized networks remains opaque.
Within the text of the memorandum, Attorney General Pam Bondi is ordered to issue new guidance on politically motivated crimes including “rioting, doxing, swatting” and to recommend entities for designation as domestic terrorist organizations.
This new directive arrives just days after Trump formally designated Antifa — the loosely affiliated anti-fascist movement — as a domestic terrorist organization via an executive order issued Monday. That prior order charges federal agencies to dismantle operations tied to Antifa and prosecute individuals who claim to act under its banner.
Legal observers have widely flagged that move as having no clear statutory or constitutional basis, arguing that the president lacks authority under current law to label domestic civil society groups as terrorists and that the order’s vague definitions risk chilling First Amendment protections.
Civil liberties advocates warn that the latest memorandum could be deployed as a blunt instrument against dissent, enabling the administration to open investigations into nonprofits, donor networks, and protest groups critical of its policies.
Academic Alex Wenzel wrote on the social platform Bluesky: "Their position is that any violence against ICE or anything/anyone on the right constitutes reasonable suspicion itself and they can investigate anyone they want on the left since we're all collectively guilty."
Filipe Campante, a professor at John Hopkins University, wrote: "Yes, this is really, really bad."
Legal analyst Jeffrey Evan Gold wrote on the social platform X: "How long before 'domestic terrorism' and 'organized political violence' is interpreted to be journalists, lawyers, judges, and politicians who do not tow the Maga line?"