US President Donald Trump has said he is designating “antifa” as a “major terrorist organization” in a post to his social media platform, Truth Social, sparking major free speech concerns.

“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump wrote on September 17. “I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”

Trump’s latest announcement caused immediate shockwaves among those part of social movements opposing the president’s political agenda. “Antifa” began heavily factoring into right-wing narratives attempting to criminalize protest following Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. “Antifa” is short for “anti-fascist”, and some individuals and collectives have used “antifa” to broadly describe anti-fascist and anti-capitalist politics – but there is no organized group unifying all of these collectives as Trump alleges.

Trump move sparks legal questions

The Trump administration has also opened up significant legal questions with this announcement, as the United States has no legal framework that allows domestic groups to be classified as terrorist organizations.

“The president does not have legal authority to designate a domestic group as terrorists for good reason, as any such designation will raise significant First Amendment, due process and equal protection concerns,” Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, told The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, in the past few days Trump’s Department of Justice quietly deleted a study revealing that far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism”. The study, conducted by the National Institute of Justice, opened with “Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives. In this same period, far-left extremists committed 42 ideologically motivated attacks that took 78 lives.”

Trump doubles down in remarks to press

Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump denounced those opposing his mass deportation opposition as “professional agitators”, and accused them of being a part of “antifa”.

“Antifa is terrible,” Trump said. “These aren’t protests, these are crimes that they’re doing. They’re throwing bricks at cars of the ICE and Border Patrol… They should be put in jail. What they’re doing to this country is really subversive.”

Trump sat down with Fox News news anchor Martha MacCallum on September 18, who asked if Trump believes “that there is a vast terrorist movement in the United States” and if this movement “is it responsible for Charlie Kirk’s killing, for the attempts on [Trump’s life, for these CEOs that we saw in New York City”.

In response, Trump said “you never know,” also adding that “you’ll find out.”

MacCallum also asked Trump where alleged antifa activists could be receiving funding, and asked whether the money is coming from “foreign entities”.

“You’re gonna find out,” Trump replied. “And we’re gonna find out in great detail.”

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