The Reality, and Fearmongering, Behind Trump’s ‘Counterterrorism’ Threats to Trans People and Antifascists

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On May 7, the Trump administration released a memo detailing its 2026 counter-terrorism strategies. This memo quickly caused an uproar on social media, as not only does it call “antifa” an “international [terrorist] organization,” but it explicitly outlines trans rights advocates as included among “violent secular political groups.” Page 3 of the memo contains a line directly from Trump, stating to groups of interest, “We Will Find You and We Will Kill You.” The capitalization is in the original.

“In addition to cartels and Islamist terror groups, our national CT activities will also prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist,” the administration declared on Page 7 of the memo. “We will use all the tools constitutionally available to us to map them at home, identify their membership, map their ties to international organizations like Antifa, and use law enforcement tools to cripple them operationally before they can maim or kill the innocent. We will do the same with the state sponsors of such groups and those governments undertaking lethal plots on U.S. soil or against Americans anywhere.”

The memo does not offer a definition for domestic terrorism, nor does it outline any rationale for the alleged groups included.

Instead, it highlights three broad categories that the administration aims to focus on - those dubbed “narcoterrorists” and international gangs, “Legacy Islamist Terrorists,” and “Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists.” There is no mention of the well-documented threat that white supremacists and the far-right pose to the average person.

This is no accident. The Trump administration has previously buried research showing the dangers American fascists pose to the average person, with many members of the regime having extensive ties to neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Trump himself infamously has a long history of using Nazi rhetoric, openly allying himself with far-right movements. Most recently, the administration has used Nazi rhetoric on Twitter to recruit more ICE agents.

The focuses of the memo, then, are nothing new. Truthout reported last month that the contents of it greatly mirror that of a preceding document, the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which focuses on “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” Released on Sept. 25, 2025, this memorandum contained more elaborate information on their strategies, and in particular has a strong focus on “anti-fascist” groups, and names several oppositional ideological positions as ones the administration aims to combat. These include “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

Ironically, for all its bluster, this memorandum contains comparatively weaker language overall, directing staff to “disrupt,” “uproot,” “disband,” and to “prosecute” those deemed to be terrorists. Nevertheless, the core strategies remain the same: a directive to increase surveillance of what the administration dubs “terrorist” groups and to utilize a great deal of federal law enforcement resources for this end.

The May memo, then, contains virtually no new information regarding the administration’s strategies. The few explicitly outlined are very similar to the current status quo, and much of the remaining space is dedicated towards trying to radicalize the American populace against groups dubbed enemies by the government. The document is functionally just a propaganda piece, more bluster and threats from a regime in an increasingly weak position.

The Memo’s Legal Implications

This perspective is echoed by attorneys consulted by Trans News Network for input on this memo.

“It doesn't change the law. It doesn't override federal statute or override the United States Constitution,” Seth Stern, Director of Advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told Trans News Network. “But it is an expression of the administration's priorities and can be taken as a warning of the direction they plan to take.”

“They're the federal government. They can put people through a whole lot of trouble, even if ultimately months or years down the line — and who knows how much money and time spent, or jail time spent for that matter — an appellate court might right overrule it.”

Stern emphasized that much of the prosecution seen from the federal government has been “frivolous” and “baseless,” with actions taken for the sole purpose of persecuting political enemies. Nevertheless, he emphasized that while there is no change in the law following this memo, the Trump administration is still intent on doing damage.

“Sometimes the law ultimately prevails, but I ask the person who's spent months in jail on frivolous charges, if that offers that much relief,” Stern said.

Sheryl Weikal, an independent attorney in Illinois, echoed a similar sentiment regarding the memo’s lack of legal authority.

“Now, the counter-terrorism memo itself is a fairly new phenomenon in the law. Until 2003, there was no such thing. Even now, it doesn't really have the force of the law,” Weikal told TNN. “A couple of people are saying that this thing is designating trans people as a terrorist organization. That is not true. A specific executive action is required to do that, and that isn't what this memo does. And he also didn't make it illegal to be trans.”

Nevertheless, she emphasized that this is a statement of intent, and represents their de facto policy, in spite of the administration failing to go through the necessary legal parameters for designating new terrorist groups.

“He intends to do those things,” she continued. “He's very excited to do these things. But as we sit here right now, what that memo is, a memo is a statement of policy and intent.”

Weikal drew a comparison to the first counterterrorism memo from February 2003, in which George W. Bush revealed his intent to invade Iraq while also stating his support and intended efforts for a two-state solution of Palestine and Israel. While the former promise infamously came true, the latter one failed to. Weikal used these examples to illustrate that counterterrorism memos are “not necessarily air tight.”

But, while it’s not the law, she also emphasizes that this should not be dismissed as just a mere scare tactic.

Jamie Marsicano, an attorney and program associate contractor with the National Lawyer’s Guild, voiced a similar perspective. They pointed out that while being trans isn’t outlawed, they nevertheless are employing similar tactics against the queer community that have previously been deployed against Muslims and Arabic communities.

“I think that in the same way the industrial complex in this country was built on anti-Blackness, the war on terrorism is built on anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiments and structures,” Marsicano told TNN. “Just like how the industrial complex over time has expanded to incorporate and attack more people, including and beyond Black people, I think we see that happening with terrorism.”

“Transgender people are starting to get swept in even more. While it's been happening for years, it's even more specifically happening under the Trump administration.”

Marsicano made direct reference to the attacks against the defendants of the Prairieland Detention Center case, which Trans News Network covered in January. Several defendants in this case are trans and have faced mistreatment on that front, and the government is directly using this as an example of how they’re targeting “antifa.” Most recently, several Prairieland defendants have been sentenced to between 50-100 years in prison for their “ideology,” even as similar federal prosecutions have fallen flat.

The maximum sentences, while they will certainly face appeals due to being blatantly illegal even under U.S. law, are a reminder of the real threats the regime poses alongside its fearmongering.

Recently, the federal government has also targeted 15 legal observers from South Minneapolis following their alleged involvement in protests against ICE’s occupation of the Twin Cities. In December, they arrested several activists in California for participation in an alleged terrorist plot. Such represents the scale of the crackdown that can be expected.

“One other thing that I think this memo does clearly is trying to normalize [fascist beliefs]. The memo is not explicitly saying transgender people are illegal, but what it is doing is conflating being transgender with terrorism, just like it's conflating anarchists with terrorism, just like it's conflating Muslims with terrorism,” Marsicano continued.“All of these are things that should be alarming to us because our identities, our religions, and our political beliefs are supposed to be protected by the Constitution.”

Stanley Cohen, a criminal defense attorney and leftist political organizer known for his wide range of clients, spanning from members of ACT-UP to an anarchist newspaper to a shelter for homeless youth to multiple accused terrorists.

“I tried to read that ridiculous government post, or notice, or whatever the fuck they want to call it again,” Cohen told TNN. “I got further this time. I got to three sentences. And then I said, these people are out of their fucking minds and I shut it down.”

He went on in more detail, particularly from a legal angle.

“The entire press release — because that's what it was, was really designed to divert focus and attention from 67 fucking train wrecks — the notion, and let me be a rigid lawyer here, there is a very narrowly drawn, particularized, detailed process for ‘a group, domestic or international,’ to be designated as an [external terrorist organization] or as a domestic [terrorist organization]. There's a process. You just can't simply say, you know, queer people, trans people, biracial people, biracial marriages, whatever, are designated. It doesn't work that way.”

Cohen added that even if no one gets prosecuted because of this memo, it nevertheless represents an “outrageous threat” that is doubly illegal, as Cohen says it violates the Brandenburg Test, a legal test used to define where free speech becomes a direct threat.

“The other perversity of this is, the government has free speech and yes, it's been constitutionally protected. That statements by governments, state, local, federal governments, which express their beliefs, their political position, their events are protected under the First Amendment,” he continued. “But there's also case law that says, except when the Brandenburg Test applies.”

“The Brandenburg test says free speech, brigade and inaction can be prosecuted as a criminal,” Cohen told Trans News Network. “So I go back to that age-old example of how falsely shouting fire in a crowded movie theater is a crime. Because you do it knowing what the impact will be. You do it knowing people will panic and run out and who knows how many will get killed or injured in the panic. And that's your intent.”

Nevertheless, Cohen doesn’t believe the federal government is going to go after most trans people individually. Instead, he argues, their reach will be much more systemic and broad.

“I don't see [the Department of Justice] going after trans folks. I do see the DOJ going after providers, school systems, communities, local boards, and perhaps parents, for violating laws that are otherwise unconstitutional,” he emphasized. “I could see that happening, and that accomplishes the same end, because when you see your parents, the school board, the local community, the medical, the professions, the doctors saying, ‘no, I can't do this,’ or backing off, it accomplishes the same purpose.”

However, Cohen emphasized that the very real dangers shouldn’t be underestimated, adding that the current level of fearmongering against leftists and radicals is “a thousandfold more dangerous than McCarthyism.”

‘Step up and be active’

Nevertheless, all attorneys interviewed agreed that the situation is not hopeless, and there is still much to be done.

Stern said that the solution is multifaceted.

“[The administration’s] lawyers are resigning left and right from the DOJ because they want better working conditions. They're miserable about the law and want to be part of an organization that is supposed to enforce it, but they're circumventing it,” he told TNN The DOJ and the government legal team as a whole is weakened and depleted. Judges are getting fed up with the bogus legal theories they're being presented with, as well as the incompetence with which those theories are being presented. There is an opportunity to fight back through the courts at the moment.”

However, he argued that efforts should not be spent on electoral offices in Congress, which he called a “dead end.” Instead, those with more money or privilege should directly organize and resist, arguing that people must go on the offensive.

“The more [people with adequate resources, connections, and skills] are able to step up and be active, the better because otherwise people are stuck playing defense, usually from very unfavorable positions where they sometimes can't be blamed for making a deal to get themselves free. That’s one avenue,” he said. “Of course, protests and media attention make an impact. We've certainly seen instances where the administration has really reduced some of its war extreme actions and positions as a result of public pressure.”

He nevertheless pointed out that organizing and staying safe are two different things, and that organizing does inherently put people at risk, in spite of it being an ideal strategy for the long term. His advice is to practice good digital security, use encrypted messaging platforms, secure your devices and passwords, get personal protective equipment for protests, and familiarize yourself with legal resources near you.

Additionally, tapping into social networks is something he emphasized as of the utmost importance.

Weikal is more sympathetic to contacting Congress, and asserted that placing pressure from constituents to get them to defund the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security could help in the long-run. Cohen had a similar belief, noting that trans people should be public and get involved in local political organizing, particularly by highlighting the role they have in broader local communities and emphasizing commonalities with the cis populace.

Marsicano went a step further than both, arguing that the purpose of this memo and further antagonistic actions is to scare people into inaction.

“The goal is to have us hiding behind fear so that we don’t exercise our first amendment right, so that we don’t exercise our right to protest, to assemble, to organize,” they said. “The best response, the way we can both challenge this and also do it in a way that makes us all safer, is to actually lean even more into each other, to organize more together, to bring more people in, to be louder with our opposition. To show that actually these are our First Amendment rights.

“There is nothing criminal about this. There is nothing criminal about exercising our religions or asserting our identities and advocating for the betterment of our political conditions. And the more we do this, the louder we can be, and the more we cannot let them silence us, the safer we'll all be.”

Additionally, they also emphasized that people should remain continuously skeptical of government narratives regarding terrorism.

“All of this should also tell us that when the government accuses someone of terrorism or charges someone with a crime for political activism, we should be instantly critical. We should not just believe and we should ask more questions because we are seeing that even people who are doing very first-limit activities are being labeled as terrorists,” they described. “And so that's another way we can keep us safer — by being critical of the use of this word terrorism and understand that it is serving the purpose of the government rather than telling us anything about the truth of what's going on.”

A key thing the trans community ought to bear in mind in the coming years is that we cannot be erased. This goes for any marginalized group – if the fascists in power could eliminate us, they would have already. Fundamentally, they’re much weaker than they let on. All shows of force – such as in Prairieland and the Twin Cities – are acts of intimidation, their sole means of keeping people obedient. They know that these acts reveal them as paper tigers, going after isolated groups and individuals wherever possible in efforts to posture as more powerful than they are.

In other words, resistance works.

Sometimes it may not appear so right now. The current regime tries to look strong through constant showboating.. This, however, is a sign of weakness, showing us that they’re much, much more terrified than we are.

To put it bluntly: if they could crush all trans and antifascist organizing, they would have done so already. That they are still bellowing threats and trying to conjure endless fear shows they’re a lot weaker than they seem.

This is not a situation where we will win by giving in or cowering – indeed, no such situation exists. Rather, their signs of weakness, their continued repression, their escalation of repression and rhetoric reveals that they are becoming more desperate to maintain power, willing to try absurd, self-destructive tactics if it means possibly destroying the rest of us.

There is not a single empire in history that has avoided its fall. Trump’s regime, and the American state apparatus as a whole, are no exception to this. Yet, only together can we achieve a world that works for all of us, rather than the hands of a greedy few. We must organize, resist, and achieve a better world. There is no other option.

— Edited by David Forbes