Trump’s NSPM-7 expands authoritarian power to combat alleged leftist domestic terror, despite right-wingers committing the vast majority of terrorist acts in America
On September 25, 2025, Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), which targets his political and ideological adversaries with threats of investigation and prosecution. The memo, titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” vows to “disrupt” nonprofits, NGOs, educational institutions, etc. that it deems anti-American, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity. The memo is unclear as to what exactly would constitute anti-American, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity sentiment, leaving the Administration with broad authority to crack down on anyone it sees as opposition.
NSPM-7 attempts to justify the Administration’s authoritarian threats by claiming that terroristic political violence is on the rise, specifically among the left. Of the memo, Stephen Miller stated: “This is the first time in American history that there is an all-of-government effort to dismantle left wing terrorism.”
Critics like the ACLU rightly point out that the memo is not actually geared toward addressing domestic terror; rather, it is “part of the President’s larger pattern of abusing his power to target critics through invocations of law enforcement, national security, and financial sanctions authorities.”
Despite the authoritarian overtones, many conservatives will not see an issue with NSPM-7, because they genuinely believe left-wing political violence is a problem in America that needs to be addressed. Fox News and the Atlantic recently reported that left-wing domestic terrorism hit a 30-year high in 2025. Stories like these can make it hard for the average person to understand the dangers of NSPM-7.
But NSPM-7 and the news stories that make it palatable are red herrings. Statistically, conservatives are much more likely than left-leaning people to commit acts of domestic terror, and have been for over a century. The recent articles about left-wing terror hitting a 30-year high cite this study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), published on September 25, 2025.
Let’s break down the data.
First, the study admits that although left-wing violence has risen in the last 10 years, it has risen from very low levels and remains much lower than historical levels of violence carried out by right-wing attackers. Moreover, any fall in right-wing attacks is probably temporary and likely due to the Trump administration embracing extreme right-wing views. Right-wing attacks tend to be centered around immigration, abortion, and suspicion of government agencies, and the Trump administration has detained and deported immigrants, overturned Roe, and gutted administrative agencies. Right-wingers may believe it unnecessary to attack institutions that are carrying out their preferred agenda.
The study also notes left-wing attacks are remarkably less lethal than right-wing attacks. The lack of lethality is likely due to several factors. When communicating their messages, left-wing terrorists often target unoccupied buildings and inanimate objects as opposed to people. They use methods like incendiaries and arson, which can cause severe property damage, but are not likely to cause mass casualties. When left-wing perpetrators do attack people, they tend to attack specific targets, rather than indiscriminately attacking the civilian population. Left-wing perpetrators are less likely to be affiliated with the military or other institutions that provide training in tactical violence. They are generally unorganized and unable to execute sophisticated, large-scale attacks. Additionally, left-wing terrorism is generally motivated by support for ideologies that do not inherently promote violence, such as racial and class equality, animal rights, and the environment. On the other hand, right-wing terrorism is often motivated by resentment of other races, ethnicities, religions, and sexuality and gender identities. Right-wing terrorists wish to eliminate the “other” or create mass civil unrest, hence their tendency to target larger groups of people.
This is not to say leftists have never committed violent acts. The 70s saw a slew of action from various left-wing groups. However, in the decades since, left-wing acts of violence have fallen significantly.
According to the study from CSIS:
- From 1994 through 1999, left-wing perpetrators committed only 3 acts of political violence, compared with 136 acts of political violence committed by right-wing perpetrators.
- From 2000-2009, left-wing perpetuators committed only 12 acts of political violence were committed by left-wing perpetuators, compared with 72 acts of political violence committed by right-wing perpetrators.
- From 2010-2019, leftists accounted for 27 acts of political violence, whereas right-wingers committed 167 acts of political acts of violence.
- From 2020 through 2025, only 26 acts of political violence have been committed by leftists, as opposed to 120 acts of political violence committed by right-wingers.
Although recent articles have referred to leftist violence as “outpacing” far right attacks for the first time in 30 years, the actual data they cite states that as of September 2025, there have been 5 left-wing attacks as opposed to only 1 right-wing attack. The media’s portrayal that left-wing terrorism is on the rise is irresponsible journalism, especially considering the following facts:
- The year is not yet over. We do not have total data for 2025.
- Data for 2025 and on will likely be inaccurate due to Trump’s March 2025 decision to pull funding from a project that tracks and analyzes domestic terrorism data earlier.
- Every single year for the past 30 years, right-wing attacks significantly outnumbered left-wing attacks.
- The number of left-wing attacks this year, five (5), is still less than the average yearly number of right wing acts of terrorism over the past 30 years. From 1994 through 1999, the average number of right-wing attacks per year was 22.6 (as opposed to an average of .5 per year by leftists.) From 2000-2009, the average number of right-wing attacks per year was 7.2 (as opposed to an average of 1.2 per year by leftists). From 2010 through 2019, the average number of right-wing attacks per year was 16.7 (as opposed to an average of 2.7 per year by leftists). From 2020 through today, the average number of right-wing attacks per year has been 20 (as opposed to an average of 4.3 per year by leftists.)
I also believe the study has a significant caveat: it appears to omit school shootings and other incidents of mass violence that are politically or ideologically motivated. A general debate exists as to whether mass shootings can be classified as acts of terrorism. But if perpetrators are motivated by political ideology, failing to consider their acts as domestic terrorism is a grave mistake, and leaves us vulnerable to more incidents of violence.
In January 2025, a student fired on his school cafeteria in Nashville, Tennessee. His beliefs included antisemitism, anti-Black self-hatred, and accelerationism. He was in contact online with another school shooter who spouted antisemitic, white supremacist, and accelerationist views before opening fire on her school in Madison, Wisconsin in December 2024. In April 2025, a student killed two and injured six others at Florida State University; the alleged shooter held white supremacist and far-right views. In September 2025, a student fired on his school in Evergreen, Colorado. The shooter’s social media indicated interest in Nazism and white supremacy, and authorities said he was radicalized by online extremists. Many young perpetrators of mass violence have been radicalized by militant accelerationist networks like Terrorgram, which tout right-wing terrorists like the Oklahoma City bomber and the Christchurch shooter as “saints.” A week ago, a former Marine rammed his truck into an LDS church and shot into the congregation, killing four and wounding eight. The shooter described Mormons as “the antichrist,” his yard displayed a Trump/Vance sign, and he favored certain conservative initiatives. Two days later, two teenage girls were killed when a vehicle going 70 mph deliberately hit them. The alleged perpetrator, a purported Andrew Tate fan, live-streamed videos of himself describing how he stalked one of the victims. He also chastised the victim for making fun of Charlie Kirk’s death. Despite these videos being very accessible online, most of the mainstream media has ignored the alleged driver’s right-wing beliefs; the links from Inside Edition and New Jersey 101.5 discussing the videos are outliers in the overall reporting of this story. And just two days ago, after weeks of receiving death threats for ruling against Trump, a South Carolina Circuit Court judge was rescued from her home as it burned to the ground in a possible arson. Where do these acts of violence fall in the data?
If the media continues to ignore larger trends in mass violence and does not push back on Trump’s narratives, the Administration will continue to scapegoat left-leaning citizens. NSPM-7 repeatedly invokes the murder of Charlie Kirk to justify the Administration’s position, despite Charlie Kirk’s alleged murderer not being affiliated with democrats or leftists. All we know about Tyler Robinson is that he came from a Trump-loving family and the inscriptions on his ammunition were more likely related to memes and video games than “antifascist ideology.” Similarly, the ICE shooter has been labeled a leftist by conservatives, but his motives appear more ambiguous than the media has reported. Friends remember him as a “vaguely libertarian” nihilistic edgelord.
All the while, Trump and conservatives have largely ignored the horrific June 2025 attacks on Democratic members of the Minnesota State Legislature (when they weren’t posting disinformation and repugnant jokes about the horrific murders, that is.) Vance Boelter has been indicted for two counts of murder in the killings of State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, two firearms offenses in the shootings of the Hortmans and State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, and the attempted shooting of the Hoffmans’ daughter Hope. Boelter allegedly had a hit list that included several Democratic lawmakers. When asked why Trump lowered the flags for Charlie Kirk but not the Hortmans, Trump replied, “I’m not familiar. The who?”
Trump’s insistence that leftists are responsible for increasing political violence while ignoring the ever-present right-wing terrorism is a perfect example of unreality - a tenet of fascism that splinters society’s shared common reality. (For a really great description of this phenomena, read How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanely.) Those in power disseminate propaganda and disinformation to influence beliefs, undermining relations between citizens. When people no longer have a common reality with their peers, they turn to their leader for truth and guidance, strengthening the leader’s power. The Trump administration has already been successful in inciting anger and distrust of his base toward left-leaning people. NSPM-7 codifies that sentiment, further leading conservatives to believe democrats are the ones inciting violence, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Sources:
“ACLU Statement on the Trump Administration's Memorandum Targeting Political Opponents” - https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-statement-on-the-trump-administrations-memorandum-targeting-political-opponents
“Analysis: What data shows about political extremist violence” - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/right-wing-extremist-violence-is-more-frequent-and-deadly-than-left-wing-violence-data-shows
"Far-Right Terrorism in the United States by the Council on Foreign Relations" - https://www.cfr.org/timeline/far-right-terrorism-united-states
“Left-Wing Terrorism and Political Violence in the United States: What the Data Tells Us by the Center for Strategic and International Studies” - https://www.csis.org/analysis/left-wing-terrorism-and-political-violence-united-states-what-data-tells-us
“Trump administration cuts national database tracking domestic terrorism” by Ellie Silverman - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/03/25/domestic-extremism-database-trump-cuts/
“Trump Administration Pulls Plug on Domestic Terrorism Tracking and Analysis Project” by Sara Mosqueda - https://www.asisonline.org/security-management-magazine/latest-news/today-in-security/2025/march/T2V-cancellation/
“Antioch, Tenn., Shooter Inspired by Broad Extremist Beliefs and Previous Mass Killers” by ADL Center on Extremism - https://www.adl.org/resources/article/antioch-tenn-shooter-inspired-broad-extremist-beliefs-and-previous-mass-killers
“‘Violence is necessary:’ TikTok account believed to be Madison school shooter's, researchers say” by Will Carless - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/19/researchers-believe-wisconsin-school-shooter-posted-violent-tiktoks/77084686007/
"The Florida State University shooting suspect held white supremacist views, peers said” by Clarissa-Jan Lim - https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/fsu-shooting-suspect-phoenix-ikner-white-supremacy-rcna201860
“Police say ‘extremist network’ may have influenced Colorado high school shooter” by Ja’han Jones - https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/colorado-evergreen-high-school-shooter-extremist-police-rcna230875
“The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram: Inside a Global Online Hate Network by ProPublic and Frontline” - https://www.propublica.org/article/rise-and-fall-terrorgram-inside-global-online-hate-network-frontline-telegram
“Michigan church shooting suspect went on anti-LDS tirade, political candidate said” by Andrea May Sahouri and Clara Hendrickson - https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/09/29/thomas-jacob-sanford-michigan-shooting-suspect-anti-lds-tirade/86415139007/
“Accused killer stalker sent pizza & porn: Threatened NJ teen over Charlie Kirk” by Dan Alexander - https://nj1015.com/cranford-murder-case-update-2/
“17-Year-Old Suspect in Hit & Run Murder is Vincent Battiloro” by Inside Edition.
“House of South Carolina Judge Criticized by Trump Administration Burns Down” by Miranda Jeyaretnam - https://time.com/7323442/south-carolina-judge-diane-goodstein-house-fire-trump-political-violence/
“Tyler Robinson’s grandmother says their entire family are Republicans: ‘I don’t know a single Democrat’” by Erin Keller - https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/tyler-robinson-family-republican-b2825943.html
"Exclusive: Leaked Messages from Charlie Kirk Assassin” by Ken Klippenstein - https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-leaked-messages-from-charlie
“Exclusive: The ICE Shooter’s Politics” by Ken Klippenstein - https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-ice-shooters-motive
"Trump Is Asked Why He Didn't Lower U.S. Flags for Murdered Minn. Democrat Melissa Hortman: 'I'm Not Familiar. The Who?’” By Kimberlee Speakman - https://people.com/trump-claims-he-s-not-familiar-with-murdered-minn-democrat-melissa-hortman-11810942
"Everyone Is Talking About The Double Standard Between How Trump Responded When Charlie Kirk Was Assassinated Vs. When A Minnesota Lawmaker Was Assassinated" by Morgan Sloss - https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/people-calling-trumps-reaction-charlie-185620201.html
"Utah Republican senator faces backlash over post condemning Kirk’s killing" by The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/republican-senator-mike-lee-kirk-shooting-melissa-hortman
“Federal grand jury indicts Vance Boelter on six charges related to political assassinations” by Madison McVan - https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/07/15/federal-grand-jury-indicts-vance-boelter/
“Minnesota lawmaker shootings: Who was on Vance Boelter's hit list?” by Fox 9 Staff -"https://www.fox9.com/news/minnesota-lawmaker-bca-shooting-suspects-list-lawmakers-not-manifesto