Trump counterterror strategy targets cartels, domestic extremists as threats shift beyond ISIS
The Trump administration’s new counterterrorism strategy expands the scope of U.S. national security policy to include drug cartels and domestic extremist groups alongside traditional jihadist threats — a shift that...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Trump administration’s new counterterrorism strategy expands the scope of U.S. national security policy to include drug cartels and domestic extremist groups alongside traditional jihadist threats — a shift that could widen how counterterrorism tools are deployed at home and abroad. A 16-page strategy released to reporters Wednesday identifies three primary sources of terrorist threats: "narcoterrorists and transnational gangs," "legacy Islamist terrorists," and "violent left-wing extremists, including anarchists and anti-fascists" — marking a break from post-9/11 frameworks that centered largely on groups like ISIS and al Qaeda. The document lays out a three-part approach to combating those threats: identifying terrorist actors and plots before they occur, cutting off funding and recruitment pipelines, and ultimately dismantling established networks — a framework that signals a more expansive use of intelligence, financial and military tools across multiple threat categories. The strategy broadens the definition of terrorism in ways that could extend national security powers beyond traditional jihadist groups — opening the door to expanded use of military, intelligence and law enforcement tools against cartels and actors inside the United States. TRUMP REWRITES NATIONAL SECURITY PLAYBOOK AS MASS MIGRATION OVERTAKES TERRORISM AS TOP US THREAT At the same time, the strategy takes aim at the intelligence community, arguing it has been "mired in old ways of looking at threats" and, at times, "weaponized" for political purposes — language that underscores the administration’s push to reshape how counterterrorism priorities are defined and executed. The strategy expands the counterterrorism mission to include domestic extremist violence, particularly from what officials describe as left-wing ideological movements — a shift that places greater emphasis on identifying and disrupting networks operating inside the United States. White House counterterrorism chief Sebast…