WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said the US would focus international counterterrorism efforts on “far-left terror,” telling officials from more than 60 countries that leftist violence had been overlooked.
A Washington conference hosted by Rubio has sparked concerns from Democrats that the Trump administration is politicising counterterrorism efforts and draining resources from fighting extremism on other fronts. In a speech, Rubio said the Islamic militancy threat was “severely diminished” due to coordinated international efforts but that rising left-wing violence was a “blind spot”.
“We can and we must identify and map this threat and rebuild our counterterrorism architecture to defeat it,” Rubio said, citing a transnational threat from groups who hate the West and target its politicians and infrastructure.
The conference marks the Trump administration’s most significant effort yet to internationalize a counterterrorism focus that critics say is not supported by data, raising questions about whether resources will be shifted away from monitoring Islamic militancy and far-right violence.
President Donald Trump has made countering left-wing groups a priority. Trump singled out the antifa movement on the campaign trail in 2024, and vowed to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence after the killing of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk last year.
