Antifa terrorist designation and NSPM-7 domestic terrorism memo

Case

Within days of each other in September 2025, Trump designated 'Antifa' a domestic terrorist organization and issued NSPM-7, a memorandum directing federal agencies to treat vaguely-defined views — including 'anti-Christianity,' 'extremism on...gender,' and opposition to 'traditional' family/religion views — as indicators of domestic terrorism, which civil liberties groups warn could be used to target activists, nonprofits, and LGBTQ+ people based on viewpoint rather than conduct.

Antifa domestic terrorist designation (Sept. 22, 2025)
On September 22, 2025, Trump signed an executive order designating 'Antifa' as a domestic terrorist organization, describing it as a 'militarist, anarchist enterprise' that 'recruits, trains and radicalizes young Americans' and employs 'elaborate means' to conceal funding and operations. The order directs federal agencies to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle Antifa-linked operations and funding sources.
Legal analysts note the order has no clear legal basis: no U.S. statute currently authorizes designating a domestic 'terrorist organization' the way foreign terrorist organizations can be designated, and Antifa is widely described as a decentralized movement/ideology rather than a formal organization with membership, funding structure, or leadership.

NSPM-7 and DOJ implementation (Sept. 2025–Mar. 2026)
Three days later, on Sept. 25, 2025, following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), 'Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.' It lists as 'common threads' or possible indicators of domestic terrorism: 'Anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity'; 'extremism on migration, race, and gender'; and 'hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.' Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called it the first 'all-of-government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism.'
The ACLU and Brennan Center note NSPM-7 does not mention the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, and argue its broad, vague labels sweep in First Amendment-protected beliefs unconnected to any criminal conduct. A leaked December 4, 2025 DOJ implementation memo (obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein, reportedly signed by AG Pam Bondi) directs the FBI to compile lists of groups based on views including 'radical gender ideology,' opposition to immigration enforcement, and anti-Christian/anti-American/anti-capitalist sentiment — which Klippenstein characterized as targeting 'anyone who isn't a Trump supporter,' not just the left.
By March 2026, CBS News reported the FBI and IRS had formed a joint initiative ('mission control command center') to investigate nonprofit organizations over suspected domestic-terrorism links, implementing NSPM-7. The FBI's FY2027 budget request separately sought $166 million for a task force explicitly citing 'gender extremism' as a target area, which LGBTQ Nation and Snopes reported was being read by some as classifying transgender people as domestic terrorism threats — a reading neither document states explicitly, per Snopes' review.

Note
NSPM-7 does not explicitly name transgender or LGBTQ+ people, and U.S. law has no formal domestic-terrorist-organization designation, which legal analysts say leaves the order without a clear legal basis.

Sources
[1] ACLU (https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/how-nspm-7-seeks-to-use-domestic-terrorism-to-target-nonprofits-and-activists)
[2] White House Fact Sheet/American Presidency Project (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-designates-antifa-domestic-terrorist)
[3] FIRE (https://www.fire.org/news/doj-plan-target-domestic-terrorists-risks-chilling-speech)
[4] The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/labeling-dissent-as-terrorism-new-us-domestic-terrorism-priorities-raise-constitutional-alarms-269161)
[5] Charity & Security Network (https://charityandsecurity.org/news/trumps-terrorism-designation-of-antifa-meaningless-or-serious-threat/)
[6] Ballotpedia (https://ballotpedia.org/Executive_Order:_Designating_Antifa_as_a_Domestic_Terrorist_Organization_(Donald_Trump,_2025))
[7] LGBTQ Nation (https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/04/trumps-new-fbi-budget-targets-lgbtq-terrorists-to-combat-gender/)
[8] NPR (https://www.npr.org/2025/09/23/nx-s1-5551008/trump-issues-executive-order-designating-antifa-a-domestic-terrorist-organization)
[9] Democracy Now (https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/8/ken_klippenstein_fbi_domestic_terrorism_nspm7)
[10] ICCT (https://icct.nl/publication/it-cant-happen-here-designating-antifa-terrorist-organisation-europe)
[11] Snopes (https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/04/21/fbi-lgbtq-people-terrorists/)
[12] Brennan Center (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/trumps-orders-targeting-antifascism-aim-criminalize-opposition)

Connections

Shared mechanism — Anti-Christian bias task force and Religious Liberty Commission
NSPM-7 lists 'anti-Christianity' as a domestic terrorism indicator — the same 'Christianity under threat' framing used to justify both the DOJ task force and the terrorism memo, within months of each other.

Shared mechanism — Anti-transgender executive orders and federal policy rollback
NSPM-7 lists 'extremism on...gender' and hostility to 'traditional' family/religion views as domestic terrorism indicators — same administration, same targeted category, escalated from policy rollback to a security framing.

Same context — DHS "hunt them down" messaging and enforcement harms to U.S. citizens
NSPM-7 provides the policy/legal framing (broad domestic terrorism indicators) that DHS's militarized enforcement rhetoric operates alongside — same administration, same period, same 'righteous enforcement against threats' narrative.

Shared mechanism — DHS: seal redesign and 'at war' messaging
Both use official platforms/government mechanisms (executive orders, memos, social media) to advance fabricated or viewpoint-based framing of political opponents.

Cause and effect — NSPM-7 in practice: first prosecutions and civil society financial surveillance (2026)
Direct implementation/enforcement follow-on: this item documents NSPM-7 actually being used, escalating from the policy memo itself.

Shared mechanism — Pronatalist policy push (baby bonuses, motherhood medal, fertility proposals)
Both invoke 'traditional' family/religion/morality values as justification — pronatalism promotes them as policy, NSPM-7 treats hostility to them as a terrorism indicator.