The Trump administration’s new counterterrorism strategy expands the scope of U.S. national security policy to include drug cartels and domestic extremist groups alongside traditional jihadist threats — a shift that could widen how counterterrorism tools are deployed at home and abroad.
A 16-page strategy released to reporters Wednesday identifies three primary sources of terrorist threats: “narcoterrorists and transnational gangs,” “legacy Islamist terrorists,” and “violent left-wing extremists, including anarchists and anti-fascists” — marking a break from post-9/11 frameworks that centered largely on groups like ISIS and al Qaeda.
The document lays out a three-part approach to combating those threats: identifying terrorist actors and plots before they occur, cutting off funding and recruitment pipelines, and ultimately dismantling established networks — a framework that signals a more expansive use of intelligence, financial and military tools across multiple threat categories.
The strategy broadens the definition of terrorism in ways that could extend national security powers beyond traditional jihadist groups — opening the door to expanded use of military, intelligence and law enforcement tools against cartels and actors inside the United States.
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At the same time, the strategy takes aim at the intelligence community, arguing it has been “mired in old ways of looking at threats” and, at times, “weaponized” for political purposes — language that underscores the administration’s push to reshape how counterterrorism priorities are defined and executed.
The strategy expands the counterterrorism mission to include domestic extremist violence, particularly from what officials describe as left-wing ideological movements — a shift that places greater emphasis on identifying and disrupting networks operating inside the United States.
White House counterterrorism chief Sebastian Gorka said the administration is focused on politically motivated violence domestically and would use “all the tools constitutionally available” to identify and disrupt extremist actors.
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He pointed to recent high-profile attacks, including the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as examples of what he described as a broader rise in extremist violence.
“If you look at the Tyler Robinson, as you mentioned, the murder of the assassin, of Charlie Kirk. If you look at Robert Westman, the murderer of the little children of the Annunciation Catholic School last year, we see an ideology that, ostensibly, began by preaching tolerance, being used by specific actors to wage violence against the most innocent, little children at Catholic schools at churches. This is a threat we will take very seriously.”
“Whether you are right wing inspired or left being inspired, the point at which you advocate for violence or use violence yourself, for political purposes, means you are actually undertaking terrorism,” Gorka went on.
The strategy calls for mapping and disrupting “violent left-wing extremists” using available law enforcement authorities, a move that could expand how federal agencies apply counterterrorism tools in domestic cases.
The strategy also elevates drug cartels to a central national security threat, embedding them alongside jihadist groups as a core counterterrorism priority — a shift that blurs the line between traditional criminal organizations and designated terrorist actors.
Gorka framed cartel violence as a direct and ongoing threat to the United States, arguing the scale of deaths tied to drug trafficking now rivals wartime losses.
“More Americans were murdered by illicit drugs smuggled across the border by cartels in one year than in 70 years of combat fatalities of U.S. service men and women,” he said. “They declared war on us. We are responding.”
The strategy builds on actions already underway, including the designation of major cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and a military campaign targeting suspected smuggling operations — steps that expand the range of tools available to confront cartel networks.
Recent operations have targeted suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as part of what officials describe as an ongoing effort to combat “narcoterrorism,” signaling a more sustained operational posture.
“If we know where you are, if you killed Americans, if you’re plotting to kill Americans, within 72 hours, we can kill you, we can arrest you or we can kill you,” Gorka said.
Beyond domestic and cartel-related threats, the strategy places Iran at the center of the global terrorism landscape, describing the regime as the most significant state-backed threat facing the United States — reinforcing a continued focus on Tehran’s role in supporting proxy networks.
“The greatest threat to the United States emanating from the Middle East comes specifically from Iran,” the document states, citing both Tehran’s military capabilities and its backing of groups such as Hezbollah.
Gorka echoed that assessment, arguing many global threats ultimately trace back to Iran.
“Nine out of ten times, you scratch the surface of that threat, and three nanometers later, you find Iran,” he said.
The strategy calls for continued military, intelligence and covert operations against Iran and its network of proxies, signaling those efforts will persist “until the regime in Tehran is no longer a threat to the United States.”
The document also emphasizes more aggressive use of military, financial and intelligence tools, alongside increased pressure on allies to take on greater responsibility in combating shared threats, pointing to a wider, more integrated counterterrorism posture going forward.
