Trump signs 2026 National Counterterrorism Strategy targeting left-wing extremist groups

The Trump administration released the 16-page United States Counterterrorism Strategy 2026, identifying three principal threat categories: narcoterrorists and transnational gangs, legacy Islamist terrorists, and violent left-wing extremists including anarchists and anti-fascists. The strategy commits to mapping membership of left-wing organizations and identifying international ties, reversing the Biden administration emphasis on right-wing domestic extremism. CSIS data showed right-wing extremists committed 152 attacks killing 112 people over the prior decade, compared to 35 attacks and 13 deaths attributed to left-wing extremists. Legal analysts at Lawfare noted the membership-mapping commitment would require specific statutory authority for each surveillance action.