Trump Administration Plans International Summit to Counter Antifa Movement
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is organizing an international summit focused on countering the left-wing movement antifa and other groups, according to three sources familiar with the matter. This effort underscores a significant shift in the U.S. government’s counterterrorism priorities over the past year, moving attention toward domestic and international left-wing extremism.
Summit Details and Organizers
The conference, tentatively planned for June or July, will convene officials from various nations to discuss strategies for battling antifa and encourage intelligence sharing, said the sources, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Among the officials organizing the event is Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno, according to two of the people.
In response to requests for comment, spokespeople for the White House and State Department both described antifa as a major security concern for the Trump administration. Tommy Pigott, the State Department’s principal deputy spokesman, stated, “The anarchists, Marxists, and violent extremists of antifa have waged a terror campaign in the United States and across the Western world for decades, carrying out bombings, beatings, shootings, and riots in service of their extreme agenda.”
Debate Over Priorities and Threats
The planned event has raised concerns among some current and former officials, who argue that the summit would be a distraction when the U.S. faces threats from Iran-sponsored groups driven by the war in the Middle East. Michael Jacobson, who was the director of strategy, plans and initiatives for the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau until 2025, expressed skepticism, saying, “I am just skeptical that now, with everything going on, when you see the number of plots being put together by Iran and Hezbollah, that there really is a compelling need to spend limited counterterrorism resources on the antifa threat right now.”
A State Department official countered that the administration had taken “unprecedented steps to combat terrorism worldwide,” including many actions against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Yemen-based Houthis, and various drug cartels. However, many details of the planned event remain unclear, including which countries were invited and would participate. As of last week, formal invites for the conference had not yet been sent, two of the people said, and the State Department official noted no summit date had been set.
Nature of Antifa and Legal Concerns
Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” is not an organized political group but is a decentralized movement without a clear structure, command hierarchy, or leader, according to a 2020 Congressional Research Service report. Some experts on political extremism, along with former FBI director Christopher Wray, have argued that antifa is better viewed as an ideology than a cohesive entity. Legal and civil rights advocates have expressed concerns that Trump’s pursuit of antifa amounts to an attempt to criminalize certain political views.
Supporters of the administration’s focus on antifa point out that individuals who identify as antifa sympathizers have committed acts of violence. For example, a federal jury in Fort Worth this month convicted nine people, who prosecutors said were antifa operatives, on terrorism-related and weapons charges for an attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Texas last year. Trump first sought to designate the movement as a domestic terror organization in 2020, following unrest in Portland, Oregon.
Broader Counterterrorism Context
Most Western counterterrorism officials are now focused on the threat of Iran-sponsored attacks directed at U.S., European, and Israeli targets. Ahead of a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in February, the FBI warned law enforcement agencies that Tehran might try to retaliate by launching surprise drone attacks in California, according to a security bulletin. European police body Europol has warned that the conflict has “immediate repercussions” for European Union security, with an increased threat of acts of terror on the continent.
Despite this, Trump has made countering left-wing groups—and antifa in particular—a priority. He singled out the movement on the campaign trail in 2024 and vowed to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence after the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September. Shortly after the assassination, Trump signed an executive order labeling antifa a “domestic terrorist organization,” though legal experts have said the designation is legally and constitutionally dubious and raises free-speech concerns.
The source said administration officials hoped to announce a global coalition countering antifa around the time of the planned conference, with European governments expected to receive many of the invites. In November, the Trump administration designated four left-wing entities in Germany, Italy, and Greece as foreign terrorist organizations under U.S. law, highlighting the international dimension of this effort.
