WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's threatened crackdown on the finances and activities of liberal non-profits and groups opposed to his agenda is a multi-agency effort with top White House aide Stephen Miller playing a central role, according to officials.
The Trump administration plans to deploy America's counter-terrorism apparatus - including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department - as well as the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department against certain left-wing groups it accuses of funding and organising political violence, the officials said.
The effort marks an escalation in the administration's efforts to target domestic opponents, raising alarm among civil rights groups and Democratic leaders about the use of executive power.
Reuters spoke to three White House officials, four Department of Homeland Security officials and one Justice Department official to produce the first comprehensive account of how decisions are being made, forces deployed, and operations coordinated in the crackdown.
All of the administration officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations more freely. Mr Miller is deeply involved in reviewing government agencies' investigations into the financial networks behind what the administration labels "domestic terror networks," which include nonprofits and even educational institutions, a White House official said.
The Trump administration has released some examples of what it alleges are incidents of left-wing violence, but it has provided little evidence of a coordinated effort.
"Left-wing organisations have fueled violent riots, organised attacks against law enforcement officers, coordinated illegal doxing campaigns, arranged drop points for weapons and riot materials, and more," the White House said in a statement to Reuters.
Mr Miller did not respond to a request for comment.
Two weeks after the September 10 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the National Joint Terrorism Task Force to focus on "domestic terrorists" whose common ideologies include "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity".
Mr Trump's opponents say the focus on liberal and left-wing groups ignores violence by right-wing organisations. They point to the January 6, 2021, violence by Mr Trump's supporters at the US Capitol who sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Mr Trump has pardoned most of those convicted of violence that day.
While Mr Trump has frequently blamed violence on left-wing groups, a second White House official noted that the president's directive does not mention them specifically and is aimed at disrupting organised political violence before it occurs.
The official said the "focus remains on violence and illegal activity," and that left-wing groups are free to protest within the bounds of the law. Mr Trump's sweeping crackdown on migrants has triggered confrontations in US cities between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and protesters, including Los Angeles and Chicago. Mr Trump and Mr Miller have claimed protests in which sporadic violence occurs are evidence of domestic terrorism.
Speaking to reporters on Oct 6, Mr Miller asserted that protesters were engaged in a "continuum of violence" that was part of a larger conspiracy to disrupt federal operations.
When pressed by a Reuters reporter in the Oval Office on Sept 25 about potential targets of a domestic terrorism probe, Mr Trump mentioned Mr George Soros - a Democratic donor whose charitable network supports civil rights, education, democracy and other causes - and Mr Reid Hoffman, co-founder of the online professional networking platform LinkedIn and another Democratic mega-donor.
The president did not present evidence of wrongdoing. "If they are funding these things, they're going to have some problems. Because they're agitators and they're anarchists," Mr Trump said.
Mr Hoffman, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Soros' network of charitable foundations pushed back against the president's assertions.
"Neither Mr George Soros nor the Open Society Foundations fund protests, condone violence, or foment it in any way. Claims to the contrary are false," the spokesperson said.
In response to a separate request, the White House highlighted seven political protests in 2023 and 2025 that included acts of violence directed against law enforcement officials, and two incidents of vandalism at Tesla dealerships this year as well as half a dozen social media posts celebrating the damage.
It named nine liberal groups, donors or fundraising organisations that it said helped finance or plan protests where the violent incidents occurred.
While the second White House official stressed that the organisations were not necessarily potential targets, the material provides insight into the administration's thinking.
The list includes Soros' Open Society Foundations; ActBlue, the funding arm of the Democratic Party; Indivisible, a grassroots coalition opposed to Mr Trump's policies and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, a Los Angeles-based group.
"The goal is to destabilise Soros' network," a third White House official said.
Mr Ezra Levin, a spokesperson for Indivisible, said the group has never organised or called for violence. "These smears are designed to delegitimize our movement," he said. Mr Carter Christensen, an ActBlue spokesperson, said Mr Trump's crackdown was an attempt to silence dissent. "We take our legal and civic responsibilities seriously," he said.
Ms AngelicaSalas,theexecutivedirectorofCHIRLA,thegroupadvocatespeacefulengagement."TheTrumpAdministrationcontinuestospreadmisinformationandfalseallegations,"shesaidinastatement."Butitwillnotwork."
Othergroupsonthelistinclude twoJewishnonprofitsthatopposeIsrael'swarinGaza—IfNotNowandJewishVoiceforPeace.IfNotNowdeclinedtocoment,whileJewishVoiceforPeacedidnotrespondtoarequestforcomment.
MrMilleristakinga"hands-on"roleininvestigatingthefundingofnonprofitsandeducationalinstitutionsandissharingrecommendationsfromAttorneyGeneralPamBondiandTreasurySecretaryScottBessentwithMrTrumpandothertopadvisers,thefirstWhiteHouseofficialsaid.
TheofficialsaidMrMillerisMrTrump'schiefadviserontheissueandisreceivingregularupdatesfromthejointterrorismtaskforce—acoalitionoffederal,stateandlocallawenforcementagenciestaskedwithinvestigatingterrorism.
A DOJofficialdeclinedtoelaborateontaskforceplansbutsaidtheFBI'sroleincludesanalysingfinancialnetworksforfundingofactivities involvingviolentcrime.
PotentialtoolstodefundorshutdowngroupsincludeIRSinvestigationstostripthem oftax-exemptstatus;criminalprobesbyJusticeDepartmentandFBI;surveillancebyfederallawenforcementagencies;theuseofRicostatutestypicallyusedfororganisedcrimeandfinancialinvestigationsunderanti-terrorlawstoidentifydonorsandfunders，accordingtopeoplefamiliarwithinvestigationsandpublicstatementsbyofficials。
"Wewillcontinuetogettothebottomofwhoisfundingtheseorganizations，"WhiteHousepresssecretaryKarolineLeavitttoldreportersonOct6。
Investigatingthegroups'fundingandpotentiallystrippingthem oftax-exemptstatuscouldforcesomeofthemtoclosedown，civillibertygroupssay。
Trumplastmonthalsosignedanexecutiveorderdesignatingtheanti-fascistmovementantifa asadomesticterroristorganisation，despitethegroup'sdecentralisednatureandlackofformalstructure。
AtaneventwithconservativecommentatorsandinfluencersonOct8，MrTrumprequestedparticipants tonamegroupsandfunders theyclaimcarryoutviolence，effectivelycrowdsourcingpotentialtargetsinrealtime.Hethenvowedtopursuethesegroups。
TheWhiteHousealsoreleasedalistofmorethanadozenincidentsdatingbackto2016thatitallegedwereperpetuatedbyantifa。
AJusticeDepartmentspokespersonsaidtheagencywillprosecute"thosewhoparticipateinantifa'scriminalacts-includingthosewhofund,supply,andenablethesecriminalstocommitviolenceanddestruction".
MrTrump'stwindirectivesondomesticpoliticalviolencehavecausedconfusion;lawyersfortheDepartmentofHomelandSecurityarescramblingtofigureouthowtoimplementthemlegally,accordingtotwoDHSofficialsnotauthorisedtospeakpublicly.
DHSspokeswomanTriciaMcLaughlinsaidtheagencywas"fullyandfaithfully"implementingMrTrump'sdirective.
Unlikewithinternationalterrogroups，thereisnolegalmechanismtodesignateaUSgroupwithnoforeigntiesaterroristorganisation，legalexpertstoldReuters。
OneofthetwoDHSofficialssaidmanyintelligenceanalystswhousedtoworkondomesticterrorisminvestigationshadtakenbuyoutsaspartofMrTrump'spushtocutthesizeandcostofgovernment，furthercomplicatingeffortstotargetleft-winggroups。
Still，ICEinrecentweeksdirectedsomeinvestigativeagentstofocusondomesticterrorism，twoICEofficialssaid.Oneoftheofficialssaiditwaspartofabroaderpushtoredirectresourcestofocusondomesticterrorism。
ThepushagainstdomesticgroupsandtheirdonorscomesamidMrTrump'sattacksonlawfirms，universitiesandthemedia，以及他向一些民主党城市派遣国民警卫队部队的举动。
Democratsandcivilsocietywatchdogssaythemove意在压制反对声音，此外还寻求对他所认为的个人政治敌人的报复。
DrTimothyNaftali，一位总统历史学家和理查德·尼克松总统图书馆前任馆长，表示特朗普和尼克松在惩罚政治敌人和压制批评者方面有相似之处，但一个顺从的共和党控制的国会和一个充满忠诚者的内阁使特朗普能够走得更远。
"这就是为什么这个时刻对美国法治来说比1970年代更危险的原因，"DrNaftali说。