A coalition of hundreds of former senior national security and law enforcement officials is expressing “deep alarm” in condemning President Donald Trump’s executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, and calling it “a signal that the foundations of American democracy itself are under threat.”

The group likens the order to “pre-crime,” a concept from the film “Minority Report” in which people are arrested for crimes they have not yet committed — where thought itself, ahead of action, becomes criminalized.

The Steady State, a group that includes more than 330 former ambassadors, inspectors general, flag officers, defense and Homeland Security officials, and senior intelligence officers, warns that the Trump executive order is “dangerously broad,” as it calls “for scrutiny of ‘networks’ and ‘organizations’ that may ‘foment political violence,’ and even of ‘potential’ crimes.”

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“This pre-crime approach,” The Steady State explained, “invites surveillance and targeting based not on evidence of criminal acts but on associations, ideologies, or mere suspicion. American history teaches that such preventive policing sweeps up bystanders, political opponents, and peaceful activists, eroding due process and equal protection.”

The signatories also express concern over the “troubling” use of vague ideological “indicia,” including, as the memo stated, “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility toward those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

The group says that these “undefined categories give sweeping discretion to enforcers. Advocacy for LGBTQ rights, criticism of government policy, or support for progressive reforms could easily be miscast as falling within them—even though such advocacy is protected by the Constitution.”

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The Trump memo specifically offers as an example: “Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin engraved the bullets used in the murder with so-called ‘anti-fascist’ rhetoric.”

The Steady State explained that the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI “may investigate crimes—arson, conspiracy, violence—but not constitutionally protected views or associations. The President’s order erases that distinction, treating a diffuse, decentralized ideology—anti-fascism—as if it were a formal organization subject to designation and criminalization. No federal statute grants the president authority to designate domestic groups or movements as terrorist organizations.”

The group’s members include Richard Danzig, the 71st Secretary of the Navy under President Bill Clinton; Asha Rangappa, a former FBI Special Agent; Alexander Vershbow, a former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Russia, and South Korea and a former Assistant Secretary of Defense; and Edward “Ned” Price, a former State Department official.

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Image via Reuters

The White House appears to be telegraphing President Donald Trump’s plans to expand the domestic deployment of military forces across U.S. cities — defying opposition from local leaders — while attacking the press for reporting it.

Describing the President’s deployment of the National Guard and U.S. military, ostensibly to protect ICE agents, federal buildings, and patrol city streets, as a “proven formula” to curb crime — which FBI data show was already declining nationwide — Leavitt rebuked the press for “framing this like the president wants to take over the American cities with the military.”

Asked at Monday’s briefing if Democrats have “reason to be concerned that there are long-term plans by this administration to keep U.S. military or the National Guard in American cities, like what we’re seeing here in Washington,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “Why should they be concerned about the federal government offering help to make their cities a safer place?”

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Aside from Washington, D.C., no mayor who has been notified of possible federal troops on their streets has supported the idea. Mayor Bowser has taken a reserved stance, given the District’s federal constraints. Federal law, in most cases, requires the governor to ask the President for troops.

“They should be concerned about the fact that people in their cities right now are being gunned down every single night, and the president, all he’s trying to do is fix it,” Leavitt insisted, despite troops largely being unwelcome.

She decried what she alleged was a “complete smear campaign by the Democrats and the media, quite frankly.”

“I was reading Politico Playbook this morning — one of the most inside the Beltway newsletters you can find — and you guys are framing this, like the president wants to take over the American cities with the military. The president wants to help these local leaders who have been completely ineffective in securing their own cities,” Leavitt claimed, before suggesting plans for further militarization.

“And we have already seen, there’s a positive formula for that. Look at Washington, D.C. The murder rate has declined significantly. Our streets are safer. People who live here feel safer. All of you in this room, I know you do. You just won’t admit it.”

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“And it’s a proven system that works, and the president wants to make America’s cities safe again,” Leavitt added. “And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

Critics blasted Leavitt’s remarks.

“Troops are being deployed to US cities where the crime rate has plummeted—against the wishes of states, cities, and local residents. It IS a takeover. No other way to frame it,” wrote political strategist Sawyer Hackett.

Democratic activist and strategist Olivia Julianna pointed to a headline that read: “Trump says military should use U.S. cities as ‘training grounds’.” She commented, “This was LAST WEEK btw.”

Author and political commentator Brian Tylor Cohen remarked: “Probably because that is *quite literally* what’s happening.”

Leavitt: I was reading Politico Playbook—you guys are framing this like the president wants to take over the American cities with the military. pic.twitter.com/JxKI8J4sXv

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 6, 2025

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U.S. Rep. Randy Fine is under fire for remarks he made on Monday likening Democrats to “terrorists.”

Speaking to the right-wing media outlet Newsmax about the federal government shutdown, Fine, a MAGA Republican from Florida, said: “I don’t negotiate with terrorists. And what we’re learned in whether it’s dealing with Muslim terrorists or Democrats, you’ve gotta stand and you’ve gotta do the right thing.”

Fine also said he hopes Republicans “stand firm” against Democrats, “and tell them, ‘No, we’re not gonna retreat on giving free healthcare to illegal immigrants. We’re just not gonna do it.'”

“And hopefully, the American people will rise up and tell them to stop the clown show and get the government reopened,” he added.

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Democrats are not asking to give “free healthcare to illegal immigrants,” although the President and the Republican Party continue to make that false claim. A 1986 federal law requires most hospitals to triage and treat anyone who needs medical attention regardless of citizenship status or ability to pay.

Fine’s remarks come just after President Donald Trump labeled Democrats “gnats,” a common insect, on Sunday, in remarks made to about ten thousand Navy sailors and service members. He also on Sunday claimed that “insurrectionists” are “all over” Portland, Oregon.

Last week President Trump labeled Democrats “the party of hate, evil, and Satan.”

In response to Congressman Fine’s remarks, veteran journalist John Harwood wrote: “lunatic.”

Rep. Randy Fine: “I don’t negotiate with terrorists. And what we’re learned in whether it’s dealing with Muslim terrorists or Democrats, you’ve gotta stand and you’ve gotta do the right thing.” pic.twitter.com/RK8vgH2VK8

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 6, 2025

READ MORE: ‘Intolerable Abuse of Power’: Top Democrat Rages at Trump’s ‘MAGA Propaganda’ Scheme

Image: Wikimedia Commons/ Public domain