During a high-profile White House roundtable on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made headlines by claiming that the recent arrest of a woman in Portland, whom she described as the “girlfriend of one of the founders of Antifa,” could be a breakthrough in dismantling what she called a domestic terrorist network.
“One of the individuals we arrested recently in Portland was the girlfriend of one of the founders of Antifa,” Noem said. “And we’re hoping as we go after her and prosecute her, we’ll get more and more information about the network and how we can root them out and eliminate them from the existence of American society.”
The comment raised eyebrows as national security analysts and extremism experts have noted that Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” has no recognized leadership, founding figures, or formal membership. The movement, which emerged in its modern form in the early 2000s and gained visibility during protests in the Trump era, is widely understood to be decentralized, with loose networks of activists who occasionally organize to confront far-right groups.
Noem’s statement comes amid an aggressive 2025 federal operation in Portland, Oregon, where the Trump administration has deployed resources to disperse Antifa-linked protests near ICE facilities. The administration has prioritized what it calls the deportation of “violent offenders” and the pursuit of individuals involved in domestic unrest.
Comparing Antifa to Global Terror Groups
At the roundtable, which included President Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and a lineup of conservative influencers such as Andy Ngo and Nick Sortor, Noem doubled down, likening Antifa to some of the world’s most dangerous militant organizations.
“They are just as sophisticated as MS-13, as TDA [Tren de Aragua], as ISIS, as Hezbollah, as Hamas — as all of them. They are just as dangerous,” she said. “They have an agenda to destroy us, just like the other terrorists we’ve dealt with for many, many years.”
The comparison sparked backlash from extremism researchers, who point out that groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS maintain military wings, command structures, and global financing networks, none of which Antifa possesses. Federal law enforcement agencies have long described Antifa as a loosely affiliated movement lacking centralized leadership, rather than an organized terror group.
Executive Order and Escalating Rhetoric
The roundtable followed President Trump’s recent executive order designating Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization,” a move with limited legal impact but significant symbolic weight. Attorney General Bondi echoed the administration’s hardline stance, saying, “This is not activism, it’s anarchy. We can’t and we will not let masked terrorists burn our buildings, attack our law enforcement, and intimidate our communities.”
Trump himself cited alleged Antifa involvement in past attacks on federal agents and implied, without evidence, that the recent shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was connected to the group. Law enforcement has not established any ties between the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, and Antifa or any political organization.
“The epidemic of leftwing violence and Antifa-inspired terror has been escalating for nearly a decade,” Trump said, despite a lack of federal convictions directly linking Antifa to terrorist activity.
