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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Trump and his advisers plan for crackdown on left-wing groups,
channeling anger over Charlie Kirk’s killing
By Kevin Liptak, Adam Cancryn, CNN
Updated:
10:15 AM EDT, Tue September 16, 2025
Source: CNN
President Donald Trump said Monday he’d consider naming far-left
anti-fascism group Antifa as domestic terrorists, previewing a plan to
crack down on what he’s cast as a inciting violence.
“It’s something I would do, yeah,” he said when asked whether he
would assign a domestic terrorism label to Antifa, saying he would
proceed if he found support from Cabinet officials and the Justice
Department.
It wasn’t clear who or what exactly Trump would designate; Antifa is
a loosely organized movement without a distinct leader, membership
lists or structure.
But the president’s openness to action underscored his intent to
quickly move against . Trump could begin rolling out actions targeting
liberal organizations as soon as this week, people familiar with the
discussions said, as he looks to channel conservative anger over
Charlie Kirk’s killing to go after his rivals.
Aside from designating certain left-wing groups as terror
organizations, Trump said he was discussing bringing racketeering
charges against some operations with his attorney general.
Trump has also raised the possibility of revoking tax-exempt status for
liberal non-profits, and his attorney general and senior adviser have
raised the prospect of criminal charges against groups or individuals
who are allegedly targeting conservatives.
What actions the president ultimately takes remain an open question.
But advisers said there was an across-the-administration effort
underway to identify groups that target conservatives or promote
violence, with a goal of taking quick action.
As Trump departs Tuesday for a state visit in the United Kingdom, team
members were expected to continue those efforts in Washington, DC,
while he is on the three-day trip. When he returns to the US, Trump
plans to speak at a memorial service for Kirk in Arizona on Sunday.
A host of administration officials have signaled in the wake of
Kirk’s assassination that they’ll be targeting what they claim is a
coordinated left-wing effort to incite violence. The moves have drawn
protest from some Democrats, who allege Trump is creating a pretext to
crack down on dissent or opposing viewpoints.
While the suspect in Kirk’s killing held “leftist ideology,”
according to Utah GOP Gov. Spencer Cox, a motive for the assassination
hasn’t been unveiled. The administration has not presented evidence
the 22-year-old accused gunman was working with or influenced by the
groups Trump has said he is looking to target.
But the president appeared intent on targeting left-wing groups whose
activity he claims has led to violence.
“Antifa is terrible. There are other groups,” he said in the Oval
Office. “We have some pretty radical groups, and they got away with
murder,” he added without citing any evidence or elaborating.
Trump also said he’d been discussing with Attorney General Pam Bondi
the prospect of bringing racketeering charges against left-wing groups
that he claimed were funding left-wing agitators.
“I’ve asked Pam to look into that in terms of RICO, bringing RICO
cases,” he said, adding: “They should be put in jail, what
they’re doing to this country is really subversive.”
Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, also speaking in the Oval Office,
cited a “network of organizations” that he accused of launching
riots, specifically naming Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
“The key point the president has been making is somebody is paying
for all of this. This is not happening for free, and so out of the
president’s direction, the attorney general is going to find out who
is paying for it, and they will now be criminally liable for paying for
violence,” Miller added.
Bondi said later Monday the government would “target” those who use
hate speech but specified, “that’s across the aisle.”
Speaking on the podcast of Katie Miller, who is former adviser to Elon
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and wife of Stephen
Miller, the attorney general used attacks against Democratic
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in addition to Kirk to denounce hate
speech.
Asked by Miller whether she envisions “going after these groups who
are using hate speech and putting cuffs on people,” Bondi said, “We
will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone
with hate speech, anything, and that’s across the aisle.”
“I mean look what happened, think about Josh Shapiro,” Bondi said,
referencing the arson attack that targeted the Pennsylvania
governor’s mansion in April.
Trump, however, that political violence comes from the left, while
downplaying instances of violence or violent rhetoric that have
targeted Democrats.
“The radical left causes tremendous violence, and they seem to do it
in a bigger way,” he said.
Pressed on why he didn’t lower American flags after the murder of
Minnesota Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman, Trump said he would
have had he been asked.
“I would have done that, but the governor of Minnesota didn’t ask
me,” he said, referring to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. “I would have
done that gladly.”
Trump ordered flags flown at half-staff immediately following Kirk’s
killing.
Hortman and her husband were killed in an attack over the summer in
what Walz has since called a “politically motivated assassination.”
In the immediate aftermath of that shooting, Trump refused to call the
governor, who ran on the 2024 presidential ticket, to offer
condolences, instead calling him “whacked out” and suggesting that
talking with him was unnecessary.
“I could be nice and call, but why waste time?” Trump said in June.
Teddy Tschann, a spokesperson for Walz, responded to Trump’s Monday
remarks in a statement: “Governor Walz wishes that President Trump
would be a President for all Americans.”
This story and headline have been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
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