A former senior Trump official says the White House just handed itself a terrifying new toolkit to go after political enemies, and he’s calling it what it looks like, Orwellian. Miles Taylor, the onetime Department of Homeland Security chief of staff who famously broke with Donald Trump, is sounding the alarm over a fresh presidential directive issued Sept. 25, a national security memo blandly titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” Behind the bureaucratic name, Taylor argues, is a sweeping power grab that could put ordinary Americans on government watchlists for little more than loud politics and bad graffiti.
The order, known as NSPM-7, expands how the administration defines “domestic terrorism” and points federal agencies at both organizations and individuals that it deems part of “organized political violence.” Critics say it blurs the line between protest and terror, greenlighting surveillance of nonprofits, donors, volunteers, and even people who merely share posts online. A White House fact sheet boasts of a “comprehensive strategy” to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle networks engaged in political violence, while outside lawyers note it explicitly trains federal attention on foundations and other funders.
In a Substack post, he calls the memo “one of the most alarming government documents” he’s ever read, arguing it creates a de facto process to treat U.S. political groups like foreign terror outfits and to tag individuals as terrorism suspects over “minor legal infractions or none at all.” “The opportunities for misuse are virtually limitless,” he writes, sketching a scenario where vandalizing a park bench during a protest could land a citizen on a watchlist built for ISIS and al Qaeda.
If that sounds like hyperbole, civil-liberties watchdogs and mainstream outlets are raising similar red flags. Analysts say the new memo instructs investigators to treat ideological “indicators,” including anti-American or anti-capitalist views, as potential warning signs, a shift that critics fear could turn viewpoint policing into policy. The crackdown follows high-profile violence, including the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and targets left-wing networks and funders, even as independent experts say far-right actors historically account for more domestic attacks.
The White House insists it’s cleaning up chaos, not criminalizing dissent. It’s public messaging frames NSPM-7 as a necessary response to “heinous” political violence, with a promise to dismantle alleged networks that “incite” it. But the administration has already moved well beyond rhetoric. In the days around the order, the Justice Department circulated guidance and agencies signaled tax and criminal scrutiny of nonprofits they link to unrest, steps that law firms are now warning philanthropic clients to prepare for.
Just days earlier, Trump issued a separate action purporting to designate “Antifa” as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that U.S. law provides no domestic designation regime similar to the foreign terrorist list. That move, coupled with NSPM-7’s broad language, has critics worried the administration is trying to jury-rig exactly such a system by memo and press release.
Taylor, who served under George W. Bush before joining DHS and later publicly split with Trump, says the combination is “Orwellian beyond belief.” Under the memo’s logic, he warns, a protest group that circulates heated rhetoric or challenges federal policy could be branded a “domestic terrorist organization,” unlocking investigations into anyone tied to it, from small-dollar donors to people who tapped “share.” He’s urging Congress and the courts to intervene before a watchlist built for bombers and assassins becomes a blacklist for activists and critics.
A spokesperson says left-wing networks have organized violence, doxing, and attacks on law enforcement, and vows to use every available tool to stop it. But the question landing in America’s lap is bigger than one memo, who decides where protest ends and terrorism begins, and how much power do we trust any White House to draw that line? With NSPM-7 now live and agencies sharpening their knives, we’re about to find out.
