(CNN) – In response to what Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls a “resurgence” of “far left political terrorism,” as stated by a State Department official, Rubio is set to gather diplomats from various countries in Washington on Thursday to address this issue.
This has become a significant focus for the Trump administration, which claims that “violent left-wing extremists, including anarchists and anti-fascists” represent one of the top terrorist threats to the United States, alongside cartels and “legacy Islamist terrorists.”
However, several former officials have pointed out that the administration has politicized this matter, arguing that the threat from the “far-left” does not compare to the dangers posed by groups like ISIS or far-right extremists. Notably, far-right extremism was completely absent from the counterterrorism strategy released by the administration in May.
According to the State Department, Thursday’s meeting aims to “expand coordination, enhance information sharing, and strengthen international law enforcement mechanisms to counter the threat” which they claim has been overlooked in global counterterrorism efforts.
A senior State Department official mentioned that delegations from 65 countries are expected at this event from “across the Western Hemisphere, Asia, Europe, and beyond.”
Sources indicate that many attendees will be lower-level officials rather than foreign ministers. Some attributed this change in attendance to scheduling conflicts since invitations were only sent out at the beginning of July.
The official noted that countries already collaborating with the administration on this topic were invited. These include nations like Germany, Greece, and Italy where issues related to this topic are often more evident.
In his speech, Rubio intends to characterize left-wing terrorism as “the result of a unique evil rooted in a deep resentment towards civilization,” according to a State Department official. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller are also anticipated participants.
The threat posed by left-wing terrorism “has not really been addressed collectively in an effective way,” said a senior State Department official. They added that partners have indicated they feel confident about managing other types of political violence but find “this one is more difficult for us.”
The senior official cited attacks linked to European Antifa groups-which were labeled as terrorists by the administration last November-as examples of far-left terrorist activities. While they did not offer instances from other regions globally, they emphasized their focus on “violent criminal terrorist acts” when asked if protests could be classified as forms of far-left terrorism.
Nonetheless, former officials expressed concern that this ministerial appears part of a broader attempt by the administration to exaggerate threats while targeting those on the political left who oppose Trump’s policies. Several sources told CNN they believe reality does not match how far-left extremists are portrayed by this administration.
“We looked at terrorism of all stripes, including left-wing terrorism, but the reality and data-both domestically and abroad-show that left-wing extremism is not and hasn’t been as much of a threat compared with far-right or jihadist violence,” said Ian Moss, who previously served as deputy coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department under Biden’s administration.
Moss now works as an attorney with Jenner & Block and highlighted concerns over other forms of ideological extremism such as Islamist violence along with violent right-wing extremism or White identity terrorism which pose real risks both domestically and internationally-issues he believes have been neglected by this administration.
Michael Duffin-who was once a senior counterterrorism adviser at the State Department-stated during his nine years working in counterterrorism he had never seen so-called left-wing extremism warrant such high-level attention.
“There’s no violent extremist element or organizational structure on the left justifying these resource expenditures,” he told CNN. Duffin was among numerous officials involved in counterterrorism who were dismissed last year during mass firings within the department initiated by this administration.
Throughout President Donald Trump’s second term thus far his administration has intensified domestic scrutiny against alleged far-left extremists.
Trump designated Antifa-a movement opposing fascist ideologies-as a so-called “domestic terrorist organization.” Despite claims about Antifa being one of his top concerns nationally law enforcement agencies continue struggling with defining its ambiguous nature-including its size locations chapters cover-and basic information surrounding it.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
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™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
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