Last week, CNN reported that Donald Trump announced plans to designate antifa as a “major terrorist organization,” describing it as a “sick, dangerous, radical left disaster” and calling for investigations into its alleged funders. Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order making that designation official. On the White House website, dated September 22, 2025 under Presidential Actions, the administration outlined the order “Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization.”
However, antifa is not a structured organization, it’s not even an unstructured one. It’s perhaps best described as a loosely affiliated movement or even a broad cultural and political identity, making such a designation legally murky and conceptually off base. Critics argue the move is both unconstitutional and politically motivated. Our project, Agency, works to address the mischaracterization of anarchist ideas and anarchist organizing. We know first-hand that nearly everything Trump says about antifa is wrong.
Since his first term as President, Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely characterized antifa as a violent domestic terrorist organization. Trump has blamed antifa for everything from tepid liberal protest movements to urban uprisings, without offering evidence, and often in clear defiance of expert consensus.
Antifa is Not an Organization
One of Trump’s most persistent and misleading claims is that antifa is a formal organization. This recent announcement of his plan to designate antifa as a terrorist organization is not unique. For instance, in a tweet from May 31, 2020, Trump stated, “The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”
Antifa stands for anti-fascist. It’s an idea that millions upon millions of people identify with globally. Antifa has also become a shorthand for a set of tactics and organizing approaches to confront fascist organizations and manifestations, and the people who actively resist fascism, white supremacy, and other forms of oppression. As historian and author Mark Bray explains in “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook“, antifa is not an organization but rather a decentralized, loosely affiliated network of individuals and groups united by opposition to fascism, white supremacy, and authoritarianism. “There is no antifa central command,” Bray writes. “No antifa membership cards. No antifa headquarters. It’s a set of tactics and principles shared across time and space.”
Anti-fascist organizing is a grassroots practice. Those who actively organize as anti-fascists have no professional funding for that work, and the work has no ties to formal organizations; they are volunteers, and their work tends to be very local, decentralized, and at odds with professional approaches to activism or community organizing. This directly contradicts the image Trump and his allies promote of a shadowy, well-funded extremist organization that underpins a vast network of professional organizations. In truth, antifa is a broad, multifaceted idea that takes many different forms. Labeling it a terrorist organization is like declaring punk rock or hip hop, a terrorist organization.
Manufactured Scapegoats
The desire to paint antifa as the face of “left-wing violence” has been a convenient strategy for Trump, especially during moments of national crisis. During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Trump repeatedly claimed that antifa was responsible for inciting violence and looting, even when federal investigations found no evidence to support that claim. Similar assessments were made in other cities. Yet Trump continued to push this false narrative, tweeting in all caps: “ANTIFA-led anarchists & looters are taking over our cities.” This kind of disinformation not only deflects attention from the true intentions of important protest movements but also fuels paranoia and paves the way for broader crackdowns on dissent.
Journalist and labor reporter Kim Kelly has pointed out the dangers of such rhetoric. Writing in Vice and Medium among other outlets, Kelly emphasizes that the right-wing obsession with antifa serves to distract from the far greater threat posed by white supremacist and far-right extremist groups, which are responsible for the vast majority of domestic terror attacks in recent decades. A National Institute of Justice study, published in June of 2024 and posted to the Department of Justice’s website states that, “Since 1990 far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives.” This study was removed from the Department of Justice website, however, mere days after the shooting of Kirk. Vice President J.D. Vance then falsely claimed on Kirk’s podcast that, “People on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence… it is a statistical fact that most lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left.”
Violence: A Misleading Frame
Trump often cites violence as a justification for labeling antifa a terror group. He points to confrontations at protests or destruction of property as evidence of an organized violent campaign. But this framing is both misleading and hypocritical.
While some activists who identify as anti-fascists do engage in confrontational tactics, including property destruction and self-defense against far-right extremists, these actions are generally not preemptive or large-scale. Instead, they are often responses to perceived fascist threats, such as neo-Nazi rallies or hate speech events. As Mark Bray explains, “Antifa’s approach is premised on the idea that fascism must be confronted and stopped before it can grow into something more dangerous.”
Importantly, the bulk of work done under the antifa banner includes monitoring far-right groups, exposing neo-Nazis and the threats they present to prevent them from recruiting new members and growing their capacity to carry out violence, and opposing street violence and shows of force. This organizing is a form of community defense and mutual aid. Bray emphasizes that expressly militant activity is a small part of a much larger set of activities focused on resisting fascism in all forms. Portraying the movement as violent is not only inaccurate, but also intellectually dishonest.
Compare this with the documented violence of white nationalist groups that are organized as actual membership organizations with formal leadership and funding like the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers, both of whom had members involved in the January 6 insurrection. Trump not only refuses to condemn these groups, he has granted extensive pardons and released their members from prison.
Who Benefits from the Demonization?
It’s important to ask why Trump and other right-wing figures have invested so heavily in demonizing antifa. The administration and Republican leaders have the intelligence resources to understand what antifa actually is. They know it’s not the vast shadowy organization they describe it to be. But there is political utility in perpetuating this dishonest narrative. Painting antifa this way allows authoritarian-minded politicians to justify expanded surveillance, police powers, repression of social movements, and myriad attacks on civil rights and freedom of expression.
By invoking the specter of antifa, Trump taps into a long tradition of red-baiting and fearmongering, reminiscent of McCarthyism. It serves as a dog whistle to far-right constituents who view leftist movements as their enemies, further emboldening those inclined to political violence. It also provides centrists and establishment liberals with an opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the ruling party by which they become unwitting accomplices of far-right power.
The Real Threat
The real threat to safety and democracy in the United States has never been a loosely organized anti-fascist network. The real threat is the normalization of white supremacy and the use of state power to silence political dissent. Trump’s fixation on antifa is not about protecting anyone from terrorism. It’s about distracting from and protecting the rise of fascism that caused antifa to emerge and resist in the first place.
Trump’s lies about antifa reveal more about his authoritarian tendencies than they do about the movement itself. As scholars, journalists, and even law enforcement agencies have made clear, antifa is not the threat he claims it is. Not only that, but very little, if anything he says about antifa is even remotely true. The reality is that if the government deems antifascism to be terrorism, then they believe fascism to be acceptable. This is a real form of terror—and it shows us that we need antifa now more than ever. The ultimate domestic terrorist of our time is Donald Trump, we must resist him and his regime every way we can.
Our comrades at CrimethInc. have published an important article exploring how to respond to Trump’s threats. Read “Make Ready: Safeguarding our Movements against Repression” on the CrimethInc.com website.
Everything Trump Says About Antifa is Wrong
Last week, CNN reported that Donald Trump announced plans to designate antifa as a “major terrorist organization,” describing it as a “sick, dangerous, radical left disaster” and calling for investigations into its alleged funders. Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order making that designation official. On the White House website, dated September 22, 2025 under Presidential Actions, the administration outlined the order “Designating Antifa as a Domestic Terrorist Organization.”
However, antifa is not a structured organization, it’s not even an unstructured one. It’s perhaps best described as a loosely affiliated movement or even a broad cultural and political identity, making such a designation legally murky and conceptually off base. Critics argue the move is both unconstitutional and politically motivated. Our project, Agency, works to address the mischaracterization of anarchist ideas and anarchist organizing. We know first-hand that nearly everything Trump says about antifa is wrong.
Since his first term as President, Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely characterized antifa as a violent domestic terrorist organization. Trump has blamed antifa for everything from tepid liberal protest movements to urban uprisings, without offering evidence, and often in clear defiance of expert consensus.
Antifa is Not an Organization
One of Trump’s most persistent and misleading claims is that antifa is a formal organization. This recent announcement of his plan to designate antifa as a terrorist organization is not unique. For instance, in a tweet from May 31, 2020, Trump stated, “The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.”
Antifa stands for anti-fascist. It’s an idea that millions upon millions of people identify with globally. Antifa has also become a shorthand for a set of tactics and organizing approaches to confront fascist organizations and manifestations, and the people who actively resist fascism, white supremacy, and other forms of oppression. As historian and author Mark Bray explains in “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook“, antifa is not an organization but rather a decentralized, loosely affiliated network of individuals and groups united by opposition to fascism, white supremacy, and authoritarianism. “There is no antifa central command,” Bray writes. “No antifa membership cards. No antifa headquarters. It’s a set of tactics and principles shared across time and space.”
Anti-fascist organizing is a grassroots practice. Those who actively organize as anti-fascists have no professional funding for that work, and the work has no ties to formal organizations; they are volunteers, and their work tends to be very local, decentralized, and at odds with professional approaches to activism or community organizing. This directly contradicts the image Trump and his allies promote of a shadowy, well-funded extremist organization that underpins a vast network of professional organizations. In truth, antifa is a broad, multifaceted idea that takes many different forms. Labeling it a terrorist organization is like declaring punk rock or hip hop, a terrorist organization.
Manufactured Scapegoats
The desire to paint antifa as the face of “left-wing violence” has been a convenient strategy for Trump, especially during moments of national crisis. During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Trump repeatedly claimed that antifa was responsible for inciting violence and looting, even when federal investigations found no evidence to support that claim. Similar assessments were made in other cities. Yet Trump continued to push this false narrative, tweeting in all caps: “ANTIFA-led anarchists & looters are taking over our cities.” This kind of disinformation not only deflects attention from the true intentions of important protest movements but also fuels paranoia and paves the way for broader crackdowns on dissent.
Journalist and labor reporter Kim Kelly has pointed out the dangers of such rhetoric. Writing in Vice and Medium among other outlets, Kelly emphasizes that the right-wing obsession with antifa serves to distract from the far greater threat posed by white supremacist and far-right extremist groups, which are responsible for the vast majority of domestic terror attacks in recent decades. A National Institute of Justice study, published in June of 2024 and posted to the Department of Justice’s website states that, “Since 1990 far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives.” This study was removed from the Department of Justice website, however, mere days after the shooting of Kirk. Vice President J.D. Vance then falsely claimed on Kirk’s podcast that, “People on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence… it is a statistical fact that most lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left.”
Violence: A Misleading Frame
Trump often cites violence as a justification for labeling antifa a terror group. He points to confrontations at protests or destruction of property as evidence of an organized violent campaign. But this framing is both misleading and hypocritical.
While some activists who identify as anti-fascists do engage in confrontational tactics, including property destruction and self-defense against far-right extremists, these actions are generally not preemptive or large-scale. Instead, they are often responses to perceived fascist threats, such as neo-Nazi rallies or hate speech events. As Mark Bray explains, “Antifa’s approach is premised on the idea that fascism must be confronted and stopped before it can grow into something more dangerous.”
Importantly, the bulk of work done under the antifa banner includes monitoring far-right groups, exposing neo-Nazis and the threats they present to prevent them from recruiting new members and growing their capacity to carry out violence, and opposing street violence and shows of force. This organizing is a form of community defense and mutual aid. Bray emphasizes that expressly militant activity is a small part of a much larger set of activities focused on resisting fascism in all forms. Portraying the movement as violent is not only inaccurate, but also intellectually dishonest.
Compare this with the documented violence of white nationalist groups that are organized as actual membership organizations with formal leadership and funding like the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers, both of whom had members involved in the January 6 insurrection. Trump not only refuses to condemn these groups, he has granted extensive pardons and released their members from prison.
Who Benefits from the Demonization?
It’s important to ask why Trump and other right-wing figures have invested so heavily in demonizing antifa. The administration and Republican leaders have the intelligence resources to understand what antifa actually is. They know it’s not the vast shadowy organization they describe it to be. But there is political utility in perpetuating this dishonest narrative. Painting antifa this way allows authoritarian-minded politicians to justify expanded surveillance, police powers, repression of social movements, and myriad attacks on civil rights and freedom of expression.
By invoking the specter of antifa, Trump taps into a long tradition of red-baiting and fearmongering, reminiscent of McCarthyism. It serves as a dog whistle to far-right constituents who view leftist movements as their enemies, further emboldening those inclined to political violence. It also provides centrists and establishment liberals with an opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the ruling party by which they become unwitting accomplices of far-right power.
The Real Threat
The real threat to safety and democracy in the United States has never been a loosely organized anti-fascist network. The real threat is the normalization of white supremacy and the use of state power to silence political dissent. Trump’s fixation on antifa is not about protecting anyone from terrorism. It’s about distracting from and protecting the rise of fascism that caused antifa to emerge and resist in the first place.
Trump’s lies about antifa reveal more about his authoritarian tendencies than they do about the movement itself. As scholars, journalists, and even law enforcement agencies have made clear, antifa is not the threat he claims it is. Not only that, but very little, if anything he says about antifa is even remotely true. The reality is that if the government deems antifascism to be terrorism, then they believe fascism to be acceptable. This is a real form of terror—and it shows us that we need antifa now more than ever. The ultimate domestic terrorist of our time is Donald Trump, we must resist him and his regime every way we can.
Our comrades at CrimethInc. have published an important article exploring how to respond to Trump’s threats. Read “Make Ready: Safeguarding our Movements against Repression” on the CrimethInc.com website.
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