Trump announces he's designating antifa as a "major terrorist organization"

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48. The MaddowBlog-The unsettling consequence of Trump designating antifa as a 'major terrorist organization'

Five years after the president tried to designate antifa as a terrorist organization, he’s giving it another try. The sequel will likely be worse.

Before anyone jokes about Trump categorizing a nonexistent organization as a “major terrorist organization,” remember:

If he says that antifa members are terrorists, and he says his team will decide who and what qualifies as “antifa,” this can get scary in a hurry. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-18T16:08:00.977Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/unsettling-consequence-trump-designating-antifa-major-terrorist-organi-rcna232143

At a White House event earlier this week, a reporter asked Donald Trump whether he planned to designate antifa as a domestic terror organization. “It’s something I would do, yeah,” the president responded, adding: “Antifa is terrible.”

Two days later, NBC News reported:

Trump said on social media that he would designate antifa as a terrorist organization and recommend investigating those deemed responsible for funding it. ... The post provided few details, including how he’d make the designation or how he would target antifa — which lacks centralized leadership and structure.

“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump wrote by way of his social media platform. “I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”.....

But before anyone makes jokes about Trump categorizing a nonexistent organization as a “major terrorist organization,” or shrugs this off as the latest presidential nonsense, there’s another dimension to this that’s worth worrying about: If the White House says that antifa members are terrorists, and the White House says it will decide on its own who and what qualifies as “antifa” affiliates, this can get very scary, very quickly.