There Is No Legal Category of a Domestic Terrorist Group But That Is Not Stopping Trump From Putting Imaginary Groups In It

Sep 17, 2025

In yet another bizarre display of presidential play-acting, Donald Trump announced that he is designating “Antifa,” which is not an organization, as a “terrorist organization,” which is not a designation that exists for domestic groups under American law.

CNN describes this bewildering phenomenon:

President Donald Trump said he is designating the far-left anti-fascism movement Antifa as a terrorist organization, announcing the move on his Truth Social platform in the early hours of Thursday morning UK time. …
But Antifa, short for anti-fascists, is not a structured group, but rather, a more nebulous social movement. And while it is illegal to provide “material support” to groups designated by the government as foreign terrorist organizations, there is not an analogous law for domestic groups. …
Aside from designating certain left-wing groups as terror organizations, Trump earlier this week also raised the possibility of revoking tax-exempt status for liberal non-profit organizations, and his attorney general has raised the prospect of bringing criminal charges against groups or individuals who are allegedly targeting conservatives.

The very absurdity of this action is the danger, because it shows that presidential action is now unmoored from facts and law.

The advantage for a tyrant of targeting an organization that doesn’t exist is that he can claim anybody is part of it, and citing a law that doesn’t exist lets him pretend that it authorizes him to do whatever he wants.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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