Headline and text from article:
Trump Declares Everyone Who Doesn’t Kiss His Ass Is A Terrorist

Failures
from the what-a-joke dept
Fri, Sep 26th 2025 10:52am - Mike Masnick

Trump has officially given up on any semblance of attempting actual governance and moved to pure man-baby-without-a-nap tantrum mode. His latest “countering domestic terrorism and organized political violence” memorandum is basically him screaming “EVERYONE WHO DOESN’T LIKE ME IS A TERRORIST!” in official government letterhead.

The document has zero legal authority and can’t actually do anything to change the law—it’s performative authoritarian cosplay from a president whose approval ratings have cratered and whose policies are imploding (even the ones that were previously popular). But while it has no force of law, it can absolutely do serious damage by redirected all aspects of the federal government away from serving the public interest, and entirely towards punishing anyone who doesn’t like Trump. The whole thing reveals just how far Trump’s willing to go in redefining basic political opposition as terrorism when he can’t win literally any arguments on the merits.

Supporting immigration reform? Terrorist. LGBTQ+ rights? Terrorist. Criticizing his failures? Terrorist! Calling out his authoritarianism? All terrorism, apparently.
Headline and text from article: Trump Declares Everyone Who Doesn’t Kiss His Ass Is A Terrorist Failures from the what-a-joke dept Fri, Sep 26th 2025 10:52am - Mike Masnick Trump has officially given up on any semblance of attempting actual governance and moved to pure man-baby-without-a-nap tantrum mode. His latest “countering domestic terrorism and organized political violence” memorandum is basically him screaming “EVERYONE WHO DOESN’T LIKE ME IS A TERRORIST!” in official government letterhead. The document has zero legal authority and can’t actually do anything to change the law—it’s performative authoritarian cosplay from a president whose approval ratings have cratered and whose policies are imploding (even the ones that were previously popular). But while it has no force of law, it can absolutely do serious damage by redirected all aspects of the federal government away from serving the public interest, and entirely towards punishing anyone who doesn’t like Trump. The whole thing reveals just how far Trump’s willing to go in redefining basic political opposition as terrorism when he can’t win literally any arguments on the merits. Supporting immigration reform? Terrorist. LGBTQ+ rights? Terrorist. Criticizing his failures? Terrorist! Calling out his authoritarianism? All terrorism, apparently.
Text from article (edited for length):
Let’s break down what this document actually does, because the specifics matter...

The memorandum systematically redefines political opposition as terrorism.... it conspicuously ignores the vastly more prevalent cases of right-wing extremist violence. No mention of the Trump supporter who assassinated a Democratic politician in Minnesota. No reference to the firebombing attempt on Pennsylvania’s governor. If it disrupts the false narrative, it gets ignored and deleted from the official history.

The document’s most insidious move is redefining standard political opposition as terrorism. Look at how it describes the supposed threat:

"These campaigns often begin by isolating and dehumanizing specific targets to justify murder or other violent action against them. They do so through a variety of fora, including anonymous chat forums, in-person meetings, social media, and even educational institutions."

Dude. MAGA and Trump himself are absolutely the leading purveyors of “isolating and dehumanizing specific targets.” Trump regularly refers to people as “enemies” or “animals.” It’s hard to think of a single public figure who more regularly uses dehumanizing language.

Also: “educational institutions”? That’s universities teaching courses on authoritarianism or civil rights groups organizing protests. The memorandum then connects this to “organized doxing” and claims it’s all part of coordinated terrorism campaigns.
Text from article (edited for length): Let’s break down what this document actually does, because the specifics matter... The memorandum systematically redefines political opposition as terrorism.... it conspicuously ignores the vastly more prevalent cases of right-wing extremist violence. No mention of the Trump supporter who assassinated a Democratic politician in Minnesota. No reference to the firebombing attempt on Pennsylvania’s governor. If it disrupts the false narrative, it gets ignored and deleted from the official history. The document’s most insidious move is redefining standard political opposition as terrorism. Look at how it describes the supposed threat: "These campaigns often begin by isolating and dehumanizing specific targets to justify murder or other violent action against them. They do so through a variety of fora, including anonymous chat forums, in-person meetings, social media, and even educational institutions." Dude. MAGA and Trump himself are absolutely the leading purveyors of “isolating and dehumanizing specific targets.” Trump regularly refers to people as “enemies” or “animals.” It’s hard to think of a single public figure who more regularly uses dehumanizing language. Also: “educational institutions”? That’s universities teaching courses on authoritarianism or civil rights groups organizing protests. The memorandum then connects this to “organized doxing” and claims it’s all part of coordinated terrorism campaigns.
Text from article:
But here’s where it gets truly Orwellian. The document identifies “common recurrent motivations” that supposedly unite all this “terrorism”:

"Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality."

Read that again. “Extremism on migration, race, and gender” and “hostility towards traditional American views” are now markers of terrorism?!? Supporting comprehensive immigration reform? Terrorist. Advocating for LGBTQ+ rights? Terrorist. Criticizing discriminatory policies? Terrorist.

This has nothing to do with stopping political violence—if it did, it would address the vastly more prevalent cases of right-wing extremist violence. It doesn’t mention the Trump supporter who assassinated a Democratic politician in Minnesota and had a target list of other Democrats, or the firebombing attempt on Pennsylvania’s governor. Trump had already forgotten about that anyway.

The memorandum is a roadmap for weaponizing federal law enforcement against political dissent, dressed up as counter-terrorism.

I mean, the same day this came out, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, claimed that calling out actual government authoritarianism somehow constitutes “incitement to violence.”
Text from article: But here’s where it gets truly Orwellian. The document identifies “common recurrent motivations” that supposedly unite all this “terrorism”: "Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality." Read that again. “Extremism on migration, race, and gender” and “hostility towards traditional American views” are now markers of terrorism?!? Supporting comprehensive immigration reform? Terrorist. Advocating for LGBTQ+ rights? Terrorist. Criticizing discriminatory policies? Terrorist. This has nothing to do with stopping political violence—if it did, it would address the vastly more prevalent cases of right-wing extremist violence. It doesn’t mention the Trump supporter who assassinated a Democratic politician in Minnesota and had a target list of other Democrats, or the firebombing attempt on Pennsylvania’s governor. Trump had already forgotten about that anyway. The memorandum is a roadmap for weaponizing federal law enforcement against political dissent, dressed up as counter-terrorism. I mean, the same day this came out, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, claimed that calling out actual government authoritarianism somehow constitutes “incitement to violence.”
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Remember how Republicans lost their minds over the supposed “IRS scandal” under Obama? Just last week, Ben Shapiro was still pushing this narrative on Ezra Klein’s podcast:

    So I try to hold steady to the idea that when the I.R.S. cracks down on conservative nonprofits under Barack Obama — I know that happened to people, and I know people to whom it happened — that is a major problem. And it is a major problem when the president of the United States unleashes law enforcement on his political opponents.

Here’s the thing: that “IRS scandal” was completely fabricated. It never happened. But what Obama never actually did, Trump is now doing explicitly and in writing. Publicly. He’s not just going after progressive nonprofits’ tax-exempt status—he’s ordering the IRS to refer them to the DOJ for prosecution.

So where’s Ben Shapiro’s outrage now? This is “every accusation is a confession” in its purest form.
Alt-text continued from previous image: Remember how Republicans lost their minds over the supposed “IRS scandal” under Obama? Just last week, Ben Shapiro was still pushing this narrative on Ezra Klein’s podcast: So I try to hold steady to the idea that when the I.R.S. cracks down on conservative nonprofits under Barack Obama — I know that happened to people, and I know people to whom it happened — that is a major problem. And it is a major problem when the president of the United States unleashes law enforcement on his political opponents. Here’s the thing: that “IRS scandal” was completely fabricated. It never happened. But what Obama never actually did, Trump is now doing explicitly and in writing. Publicly. He’s not just going after progressive nonprofits’ tax-exempt status—he’s ordering the IRS to refer them to the DOJ for prosecution. So where’s Ben Shapiro’s outrage now? This is “every accusation is a confession” in its purest form.
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But the most damning evidence of this memorandum’s true purpose lies in its targeting of progressive funders. Buried in section 2(j), Trump orders the IRS to weaponize tax-exempt status against his political opponents:

    The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (Commissioner) shall take action to ensure that no tax-exempt entities are directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism.  In addition, where applicable, the Commissioner shall ensure that the Internal Revenue Service refers such organizations, and the employees and officers of such organizations, to the Department of Justice for investigation and possible prosecution.

When you’ve already defined supporting immigration reform, LGBTQ+ rights, or racial justice as “terrorism,” going after the nonprofits that fund such work becomes a natural next step.

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Text from article (alt-text continued in next image): But the most damning evidence of this memorandum’s true purpose lies in its targeting of progressive funders. Buried in section 2(j), Trump orders the IRS to weaponize tax-exempt status against his political opponents: The Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (Commissioner) shall take action to ensure that no tax-exempt entities are directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism. In addition, where applicable, the Commissioner shall ensure that the Internal Revenue Service refers such organizations, and the employees and officers of such organizations, to the Department of Justice for investigation and possible prosecution. When you’ve already defined supporting immigration reform, LGBTQ+ rights, or racial justice as “terrorism,” going after the nonprofits that fund such work becomes a natural next step. (... alt-text continued in next image)