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Brian Krassenstein declares “I Am Antifa” after Trump designates group as terrorist organisation

The entrepreneur and social media activist reacted to President Trump's recent announcement on the status of Antifa
posted by Sourodeep Dey
Thursday 9/18/2025 at 4:41AM EDT
  • U.S. President Donald Trump stops and talks to the media before he boards Marine One on the South Lawn at the White House on June 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. The President will attend the annual meeting of the Group of 7 nations, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States are taking place in the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, and will run until late Tuesday. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
    U.S. President Donald Trump stops and talks to the media before he boards Marine One on the South Lawn at the White House on June 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. The President will attend the annual meeting of the Group of 7 nations, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States are taking place in the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, and will run until late Tuesday. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

    President Donald Trump just announced that he is designating Antifa as a terrorist organization. Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, President Trump made the announcement and wrote,

    “I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

    President Trump’s announcement was followed by entrepreneur Brian Krassenstein declaring that he identified with the message of Antifa. In a post on X, the social media activist seemed to be making a statement in favor of the idea behind Antifa, and while criticising Trump’s decision, wrote,

    “I am ANTIFA. MEANING I AM AGAINST fascism. All Americans should be. ANTIFA is not an organization.”

    Krassenstein also added that as a domestic organization, Antifa could be legally recognized as a terrorist organization as only international organisations can be labeled as terrorist organizations. He added,

    “Domestic groups also cannot be formally designated as “terrorist organizations” under U.S. law. Trump did not have legal authority to unilaterally designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. No federal statute allows for a president to make such a designation domestically.”

     

    According to The Guardian, President Trump had expressed his intention to label the organization as terrorist earlier on Monday. In the Oval Office, the President said that he would pursue the action if he received the support of his cabinet and the attorney general, Pam Bondi. The publication noted that he said,

    “It’s something I would do, yeah. I would do that 100%. Antifa is terrible.”

     

    What is Antifa?

    Antifa is an organization that is a frequent presence at protests and demonstrations, where it is visible through its members who often dress in entirely black clothes. It is allegedly composed of radical left activists who claim to fight against the ideology of fascism.

    This is not the first time that President Donald Trump has mentioned his desire to label Antifa as a terrorist organization. During his first tenure as President, Trump wrote on X in 2020 and said that the government would be considering designating Antifa as a terrorist organization.

     

    At the time, however, various media outlets, including The Washington Post and Vox, noted that Trump does not hold the legal authority to take the step, as Antifa is a domestic entity. As per Vox, the step would require enacting a law by Congress that would create a domestic terrorism designation, something that seemed legally unviable.

    Furthermore, as per The New York Times, Antifa does not have a traditional organizational or leadership structure. It has no leaders, and is operated through local cells independent of each other. Its membership is also kept under wraps, and the organization protests against racist, authoritarian, homophobic, or xenophobic actions.

    The publication notes that Mark Bray, a lecturer at Dartmouth College has said about Antifa,

    “The argument is that militant anti-fascism is inherently self-defense because of the historically documented violence that fascists pose, especially to marginalized people.”

    According to The Guardian, while President Trump is receiving praise for his current step from people such as the Louisiana Republican senator, Bill Cassidy, it remains to be seen if the President indeed possesses the authority to declare Antifa as a terrorist organization.

    TOPICS: Antifa, Brian Krassenstein, Donald Trump


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