By Tiffany Williams –
President Trump signed a hardline order Wednesday aimed at crushing what he called a wave of domestic terrorism and organized political violence sweeping the country.
The move, delivered as a National Security Presidential Memorandum, orders federal law enforcement to treat politically motivated attacks and intimidation as a top-tier terror threat. Trump cited a string of bloody incidents — the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the 2024 murder of a healthcare executive, the 2022 attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life, two alleged assassination attempts on Trump himself during the last election, and a surge in riots targeting ICE officers. Just this week, a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas left multiple victims.
The directive hands sweeping authority to the Justice Department, Treasury, IRS and Homeland Security. Joint Terrorism Task Forces will now be tasked with building cases not just against violent actors but the networks, funders and organizations behind them. Prosecutors are ordered to hit suspects with the maximum penalties under federal law, from conspiracy and money laundering to terrorism financing and racketeering.
The Attorney General must also issue new guidance that expands the scope of “domestic terrorism” to include doxing, swatting, rioting, looting and civil disorder. Treasury is told to track illicit financial flows feeding political violence, while the IRS is instructed to strip tax-exempt status from nonprofits found to be funneling cash into extremist activity.
The memo directs federal agencies to interrogate suspects about who is organizing and bankrolling their actions before plea deals are cut, an aggressive step that mirrors tactics used against organized crime. It also opens the door to formally designating groups as “domestic terrorist organizations” under federal law — a move that would escalate prosecution and financial disruption.
Trump blasted what he described as a coordinated “anti-fascist” movement that uses radicalization, intimidation and violence to silence opponents. He said the ideology behind these networks is anti-American, anti-capitalist and anti-Christian, portraying basic law-and-order principles as fascism to justify bloodshed. He pointed to Kirk’s alleged assassin, who etched anti-fascist slogans onto bullets, as proof of a violent campaign.
The order makes domestic terrorism a national security priority area, with new grant money flowing to local police and federal partners to detect and disrupt threats. It also directs federal law enforcement to adopt the same strategies used to dismantle mob families and violent gangs.
The White House insists the memorandum doesn’t create new powers or rights, but instead commands agencies to use every tool already on the books to smash violent political networks. Critics are already warning the move could blur the line between law enforcement and political targeting, but Trump made clear he wants results.
“The United States requires a national strategy,” the memorandum reads, “so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts.”