US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that federal law enforcement would take a “very threatening” stance as it moves to crack down on Antifa, which he has recently designated a “terrorist organization.”
Trump said the government would take a hardline approach towards the movement and its supporters, vowing to confront them more forcefully than ever before.
“They have been very threatening to people, but we’re going to be very threatening to them — far more threatening than they ever were with us, and that includes the people that fund them,” Trump said during a White House roundtable discussion focused on Antifa.
“We have a very serious left-wing terror threat in our country. Radicals associated with the domestic terror group Antifa… and other Far Left extremists have been carrying out a campaign of violence,” he added.
The event brought together several top administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The group discussed what they described as ongoing threats against law enforcement and the need for tougher federal measures.
Antifa — short for anti-fascist — is described by the Anti-Defamation League as a decentralized, leaderless movement made up of loosely connected groups and individuals who oppose far-right extremism.
Attorney General Bondi emphasized the administration’s commitment to “deploying the full might of federal law enforcement” to combat antifa and similar organizations. She also applauded recent decisions by Apple and Google to remove mobile apps that track Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
FBI chief Kash Patel vowed an aggressive pursuit of antifa-linked networks and donors. “We, in this FBI, will go after the criminals with a vengeance,” Patel said. “We will not rest until we find every single seed — money, donor, organization, and funding mechanism.”
Homeland Security Secretary Noem framed the issue in stark terms, saying, “Their agenda is to destroy the American people and our way of life, and this President is standing in their way.”
Trump has repeatedly cited rising crime and threats against police as justification for deploying National Guard troops to cities such as Portland, Oregon, where protests have persisted.
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