Have you called Trump a "fascist?" If so, he might officially designate you a "terrorist."

Trump administration dramatically ramps up investigations of liberals and left-leaning groups under the guise of countering "domestic terrorism."

For years, critics of Donald Trump have used a word that once felt provocative but theoretical: fascist. Then he returned to office and unleashed a blizzard of illegality, shattering democratic norms. But now the administration is signaling that calling out Trump’s fascist actions — or organizing against him — could land you under federal counterterrorism surveillance.

This morning, The Washington Post confirmed what many of us have been warning about since Trump’s reelection, namely that behind closed doors the administration has begun a sweeping, ideologically driven campaign to treat left-leaning Americans as a domestic terrorist threat.

According to the Post’s reporting, which was first revealed by journalist Ken Klippenstein, Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered federal law-enforcement agencies to hand over any and all intelligence files tied to “Antifa” and “Antifa-related” activity to the FBI. Today marks the first deadline under that directive, which kicks off a process for the Bureau to begin compiling lists of people and groups to scrutinize as part of a White House-directed crackdown on what it calls “left-wing domestic terrorism.”

The Justice Department directive lists the criteria of possible domestic terrorism indicators as “anti-Americanism,” “anti-capitalism,” “anti-Christianity,” “opposition to law and immigration enforcement,” “radical gender ideology,” and “hostility toward traditional views on family, religion, and morality” — and uses those criteria as a guide for the individuals who might merit federal investigation.

As the Post reports:

Critics warn that the plan signals an impending crackdown on political dissent under the banner of counterterrorism — one that could land large numbers of liberal activists on government watchlists and chill Americans’ First Amendment right to protest the administration’s policies…

Citing the phrase “Hey Fascist! Catch!” inscribed on a bullet casing of Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, Bondi wrote: “Violence against what extremists claim to be fascism is the clarion call of recent domestic terrorism.”

This comes on the heels of a top FBI official testifying before Congress that the Trump administration views the anti-fascist movement and the “group” Antifa as “the most immediate” threat to the U.S. homeland, despite the same official being unable to answer basic questions about whether Antifa is an actual organization, where it is based, how many members it has, and how it is structured.

This is the early architecture for political repression, and it’s unfolding almost exactly as I warned.

Years ago, I wrote that Trump’s second term would bring an unprecedented weaponization of America’s counterterrorism apparatus — not against foreign jihadists or organized violent extremists, but against the president’s political opposition.

I once led domestic counterterrorism efforts in the first Trump administration. After years of internal fights with White House officials, it was clear to me that if the president returned to office, his team would: (1) invent a vague internal enemy, (2) declare it a terrorism threat, (3) use that label to unlock extraordinary surveillance powers, (4) funnel Americans into watchlists built for al-Qaeda and ISIS, and (5) do it all without Congress ever authorizing a domestic terrorist designation regime.

The White House used the Charlie Kirk assassination in September as a pretext for putting all of those elements in motion.

Consider the criteria listed in the Bondi memo, noted above. “Anti-Americanism,” “gender ideology,” and hostility toward “traditional” morality are not crimes. They are political viewpoints that are, by the way, firmly in the category of protected speech. The First Amendment should form a nearly impenetrable wall around your right to hold any of these views. Yet those are now being officially treated by the U.S. government as predicate indicators for terrorism scrutiny.

While Americans are slowly waking up to how serious this actually is, the investigations are beginning.

Since 9/11, the U.S. government has built an immense counterterrorism infrastructure to catch attack plotters. This includes sprawling digital watchlists, intelligence “fusion centers,” task forces in every region of the country, interconnected secret databases, financial tracking systems, and so much more that operates largely out of public view. That system was designed to stop foreign terrorists, and I can attest that it’s worked. Thousands of American lives have been saved.

But it was never meant to be turned inward at scale — and certainly not for political reasons like it is now.

As the Post reports, federal agencies are moving toward investigations that could activate the infrastructure against Americans. This includes the FBI’s ability to marshal facial recognition, phone-tracking databases, license-plate readers, financial records review, undercover operations, and intelligence-sharing tools against Americans whose primary “offense” may be ideological dissent.

Unfortunately, once you are fed into that system, there is no real “due process” until charges are brought. It’s not like you get a text-message notification when the FBI begins investigating you for terrorism offenses, and there’s certainly no “opt-out” feature. For this to happen, you don’t need to commit violence. You don’t even need to plan it. Under the administration’s new guidelines, you merely need to be flagged for association with the anti-fascist movement to become a potential target.

That’s why Members of Congress have been telling me and Ken Klippenstein that they see this as “far worse than the Patriot Act.” My response? At least the Patriot Act was passed by Congress. It was debated. And contrary to popular belief, it had extensive guardrails, subject to judicial review. This has none of that.

What’s happening now is McCarthyism, updated for the digital age.

Sen. Ron Wyden, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, put it bluntly:

“It is a throwback to McCarthyism and the worst abuses of Hoover’s FBI to use federal law enforcement against Americans purely because of their political beliefs or because they disagree with the current president’s politics.”

He’s right, but it’s actually more dangerous than that.

Joseph McCarthy had subpoenas and hearings and created his blacklists of “communist” Americans from Capitol Hill. And while controversial FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover may have had old-school wiretaps and informants, Donald Trump’s team has algorithmic surveillance, bulk data collection, and a post-9/11 security state designed for permanent emergency. It’s like comparing a snowflake with a refrigerator.

What’s even more damning is that the Trump administration isn’t even bothering to hide the fact that it’s created a dummy bad guy as the excuse to do all of this. They can’t even answer the most basic questions about the supposed top threat to the United States. Why? Because it’s manufactured.

Simply read the exchange last week between FBI official Michael Glasheen and the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Bennie Thompson, at the annual Worldwide Threats Hearing. I spent years on Capitol Hill and used to run that exact hearing, and never have I seen a government official fall so flat on his face like the FBI representative did:

FBI official Michael Glasheen: When you look at the data right now…right now, what I see from my position, is [Antifa] is the most immediate violent threat we are facing on the domestic side.

Rep. Bennie Thompson: So where is Antifa headquartered?

[long uncomfortable silence]

Glasheen: What we’re doing right now —

Rep. Thompson: Uh-uh. Where in the United States does Antifa exist?

Glasheen: We are building out the infrastructure right now.

Rep. Thompson: So what does that mean? We’re trying to get information. You said Antifa is a terrorist organization. Tell us, as a committee, how did you come to that? Do they exist? How many members do they have in the United States as of right now?

Glasheen: Well, that’s very fluid…

Rep. Thompson: I asked one question, sir. I just want you to tell us — if you said Antifa is the NUMBER ONE domestic terrorist organization operating in the United States, I just need to know where they are … how many people have you identified with the FBI that Antifa is made of.

Glasheen: Well, the investigations are active…

[hesitates]

Rep. Thompson: Sir, you wouldn’t come to this committee and say something you can’t prove. I know you wouldn’t do that… But you did.

The real answer is obvious. The group doesn’t exist. But that’s not a “bug” or a defect in the Trump administration’s argument. It’s a feature. By elevating a hazy, poorly defined concept — “Antifa” — as the nation’s top domestic threat, the FBI can go in whatever direction it wants. Put another way, an enemy without boundaries can be expanded indefinitely.

Congress has to do something about this — because the courts won’t save us from these abuses of power, at least not for years.

What’s even more remarkable than what the Trump administration is doing here — by weaponizing counterterrorism powers — is how little resistance they’re facing. Other than some tough questions from Rep. Bennie Thompson, Congress hasn’t pushed back. Once upon a time, the House and Senate were terrified by the proposal of “domestic terrorism designations”; when I was on Capitol Hill, we struck down similar legislative proposals, knowing such powers could be abused by a president to go after the political opposition.

But Trump did it anyway. And Congress is largely listless in response.

That cannot stand. This is one of the most sweeping civil liberties violations of the modern era. It’s poised to far exceed anything Democrats were worried about in the early years of the War on Terror. Absurdly, it’s being justified not by a mass-casualty attack like 9/11, but by a single man’s festering political grievances and power-hungry attempt to wield force to shut up his critics. Does it get more fascist than that?

If Congress doesn’t act — publicly, aggressively, and across party lines — it will be complicit in building a surveillance state that future presidents will inherit and expand. I believe the danger is very, very real. So this is the moment to draw a line. If Congress doesn’t, and if Trump is allowed to treat dissent as terrorism, then we will face a generational task of undoing the damage.

Your friend, in defiance,

P.S. We aren’t just watching the Trump administration’s lawlessness. We’re doing something about it. Last night we made a BIG announcement on our Weekly Mission Brief for Members of DEFIANCE.org. We are taking REAL action to confront worries about Trump’s “illegal orders.” Watch here.

P.P.S. WHAT’S HAPPENING ON DEFIANCE.NEWS

Here’s what’s coming up.

1. DEFIANCE DAILY // NO SHOW TONIGHT, BUT WE ARE BACK TOMORROW AT 5P ET - We’re off tonight because some of our team members are on holiday travel. BUT you can tune in tomorrow night (Friday) at 5p ET for our end-of-year broadcast. Watch LIVE on our DEFIANCE.News page, on our YouTube channel, or on my X account. Then we’re off for two weeks (Dec 23 - Jan 2).

2. **YOUR FINAL STOCKING STUFFER REMINDER** — If you want to send a powerful message this holiday season, you can actually send a Constitution to pro-Trump Members of Congress — with a message reminding them their oath is to the Constitution, not to the president. We’ll hand deliver it just after the holidays. And you’ll get a printable certificate you can put in a Christmas stocking or holiday gift bag, letting someone know that you sent it in their name. Give the gift of defiance here: https://www.defiance.org/swag/p/constitutions-for-congress 100% of the proceeds go to DEFIANCE.org and the pro-democracy fight.

P.P.P.S. If you’re not following us on social media, now you can get the latest updates. You can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads, BlueSky, and YouTube.