Power Grab/Point the law at critics
Trump signs NSPM-7, directing Joint Terrorism Task Forces at funders, nonprofits and tax-exempt groups using ideological markers
— Trump aims the counter-terror apparatus at nonprofits and funders.
The memorandum came two weeks after Charlie Kirk’s assassination and three days after an order designating Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.
What happened
On September 25, 2025, Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, directing the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces to run a national strategy against political violence, including “institutional and individual funders.” It also reaches officers of organizations that “aid and abet” them. The signing came two weeks after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
The memo tells Treasury to trace funding and the IRS to refer tax-exempt entities and their officers to the Justice Department for prosecution. It lists “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” among the “common threads” the Attorney General’s guidance should use to identify such groups.
Stephen Miller called it the first all-of-government effort to dismantle “leftwing terrorism.” Bondi issued implementing memos in September and December 2025, and the FBI later set up an NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center. The ACLU, Human Rights Watch and more than 3,000 nonprofits objected.
Who benefited
The White House acquired a counterterrorism framework that reaches donors, nonprofits and tax-exempt groups by ideology rather than by act. Miller, who presented the memo, has an enforcement agenda that benefits from FBI probes of anti-ICE activity carried out under it.
Who wanted something
Trump signed the memo, and Miller championed it at the signing. Bondi and Kash Patel implemented it through Justice Department guidance and FBI investigations, including probes of anti-ICE activity. The Antifa designation three days earlier had set up the target.
Who lost out
Nonprofits, foundations and donors on the left now face Joint Terrorism Task Force scrutiny, IRS referral and suspicious-activity reporting for funding advocacy the administration opposes. Protesters’ rioting, trespass and doxing are reclassified as domestic terrorism priorities.
Why it matters
The FBI’s most intrusive authorities, built for networks that plan violence, are now pointed at organizations identified by beliefs such as “anti-capitalism.” The memo cites no statute for the designation power it asserts. Treasury, the IRS and the task forces are each assigned a part.
Sources The White House (primary)Federal Register (primary)TIMEWikipedia
More
on
this
- ReceiptThe Justice Department told prosecutors in at least seven states to prepare investigations of George Soros’s Open Society FoundationsSame group: Investigate civil society and nonprofits
- ReceiptThe Justice Department ordered NSPM-7 enforcement, and the FBI and IRS set up a joint unit to investigate nonprofitsSame group: Investigate civil society and nonprofits
- ReceiptDHS runs an undercover operation called “Puppet Master” against anti-ICE groups and pulls union recordsSame group: Investigate civil society and nonprofits
- ExplainerFive Tried-and-True Moves to Capture a Democracy and Make a KillingFive moves to capture a democracy