President Trump is designating the anti-fascist antifa movement as a terrorist organization, according to a post he made during his state visit to the United Kingdom early Thursday U.K. time.
What he's saying: "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 Truth Social.
- "I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices," he added.
Context: Antifa is a decentralized, leaderless movement that's opposed to fascism and is loosely defined as far-left.
- It can use direct-action protest tactics and an ADL report notes that while "some extreme actors who claim to be affiliated with antifa do engage in violence or vandalism at rallies and events, this is not the norm."
Driving the news: Trump told reporters earlier this week that he would consider designating antifa a "domestic terror organization."
- He added: "I would do that 100% and others also, by the way, but antifa is terrible."
The intrigue: Per the ADL, "Because there is no unifying body for antifa, it is impossible to know how many adherents are currently active."
- Representatives for the White House and Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on Trump's plans for enforcing action against antifa.
Flashback: During the first Trump administration, then-Attorney General Bill Barr said the DOJ would use its regional FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces to identify the "criminal organizers and instigators" of violence during George Floyd protests, including antifa.
Go deeper: DOJ to treat antifa involvement in protests as domestic terrorism
