WASHINGTON — President Trump enacted a sweeping new counterterrorism strategy aimed at crushing threats “at home and abroad,” with a heavy focus on drug cartels, Islamist terror groups and violent political extremists inside the US, a top White House official said on a press call Wednesday.
Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president, described the 16-page framework as an “America First counterterrorism” blueprint centered on protecting the homeland by aggressively dismantling threats before they reach US soil.
In line with the “Donroe Doctrine,” the strategy’s first priority is the “neutralization of hemispheric terror threats” — placing cartels squarely in the crosshairs.
Gorka said the administration plans to “incapacitate cartel operations” and expand the use of Foreign Terrorist Organization designations to choke off their financing and logistics.
The strategy also expands focus to violent actors inside the US, including what Gorka described as “violent secular political groups” such as Antifa, which has been named a domestic terror group, and others espousing anti-American or anarchist ideologies.
It’s a notable change from the Biden administration, which prioritized investigating traditional Christians and even secretly kept tabs on Catholic priests.
Gorka also warned of a rise in politically motivated violence — including the most recent attack on the president’s life at the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
“We will not permit politically motivated violence in the United States from either side of the aisle,” he said.
At the same time, the strategy targets what Gorka called the “top five Islamist jihadi groups” capable of launching attacks on Americans — including al Qaeda, its Yemen-based affiliate AQAP, and ISIS, particularly ISIS-K in Afghanistan.
He said the US would continue a rapid-strike approach to eliminating threats.
“If we know where you are, if you’re plotting to kill Americans, within 72 hours we can kill you or arrest you,” Gorka said, describing counterterror capabilities built over the past two decades.
The administration is also leaning heavily on financial tools to cripple terror networks, including sanctions and FTO designations.
He pointed to online radicalization as a growing concern, saying terror groups have shifted away from large training camps to inspiring lone actors via social media.
“They don’t need to bring you to the Middle East anymore,” he said. “They want you to act where you are.”
The strategy also prioritizes preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear or radiological devices — a threat Gorka called “the most dangerous” facing the US.
With the strategy signed, officials now face the challenge of turning it into action across agencies. Asked for specifics on what will be done to achieve the goals, Gorka said: “This is where the fun begins.”
“We see a threat, we will respond to it — and we will crush it,” he said.
He described the document as a “common sense” roadmap built on identifying threats quickly, cutting off resources and eliminating actors before they can strike.
“Whether it is cartels, jihadists or violent extremists,” Gorka said, “we will take them on head-on.”
