Trump’s “Anti-American” Order Will Double Domestic Terrorism Watchlist

President Trump’s sweeping new national security memorandum will likely double the FBI’s domestic terrorism watchlist from 5,000 people to 10,000, according to journalist Ken Klippenstein. 

Trump issued the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, or NPSM-7, titled “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” last week. The memo directs the federal government to investigate and prosecute any person, nonprofit, or entity displaying what Trump calls “indicia” of political violence: anti-capitalism, anti-Americanism, anti-Christianity, and “extremism” on race, gender, and migration. 

The memo continues:

This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically.... It is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society.  A new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies—including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources, and predicate actions behind them—is required. 

These broad categorizations would incriminate millions of people, hence the doubling of the domestic terrorism watchlist. The watchlist was created directly after the attacks on September 11, 2001, and also includes the no-fly list. 

“Individuals, including U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents), may be nominated for inclusion in the terrorist watchlist if they are known or reasonably suspected to be engaged in terrorism or terrorist activities, or are associated with known or suspected terrorists, among other criteria,” the Government Accountability Office wrote in a study just last month. Now President Trump has greatly expanded the parameters, allowing the government to label everyone from George Soros to a few leftists with a Signal chat as domestic terrorists. 

In that same study, the GAO acknowledged that “some U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents) have been misidentified as being on the watchlist or remained on the watchlist when no longer warranted.” It’s unfortunately likely that this unfortunate, authoritarian trend will only increase tenfold now. 

There’s no other way around it—McCarthyism is so back. 

President Donald Trump on Monday once again showed his inability to think about geopolitics in terms of anything other than real estate, as he unveiled a shocking Gaza peace plan.

“Let us not forget how we got here,” he said at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he touted the new proposed peace plan. “Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people. Israel withdrew from Gaza, thinking they would live in peace. Remember that? A long time ago, they withdrew.”

Trump was referring to Israel’s 2005 removal of its ground troops and settlements from the Gaza Strip (which, contrary to Trump’s telling, occurred before Hamas won legislative elections in 2006).

Israel’s withdrawal, Trump opined, had been a mistake, relinquishing prime real estate along the Mediterranean Sea: “They pulled away. They let them have it. And I never forgot that because I said, ‘That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.’ As a real estate person, I mean, they gave up the ocean, right?” he said. “They gave up the ocean. I said, ‘Who would do this deal?’”

Notably, Israel did not “[give] up the ocean” in 2005, but retained control over Gaza’s shore, borders, and airspace. And after Hamas seized power in 2007, Israel imposed an indefinite land, sea, and air blockade that remains in place, restricting Gazans’ freedom of movement and access to natural resources.

But, per Trump’s telling Monday, Israel was “very generous” in giving up “the most magnificent piece of land, in many ways, in the Middle East.”

It’s not the first time the president has approached Gaza with this sociopathic lens. In July, Trump (after bizarrely implying he coined the term “the Gaza Strip”) called Israel’s 2005 withdrawal “one of the worst real estate deals ever made,” because Israel “gave up the oceanfront property.”

Israel and the U.S. are “beyond very close” to achieving a peace deal regarding Gaza, according to Donald Trump.

Delivering a slurred speech beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Monday, the U.S. president claimed it was a “historic day for peace” in the Middle East, underscoring that the two countries were on the cusp of brokering a deal to end Israel’s assault on the West Bank.

“At least we’re at a minimum very, very close, and I think we’re beyond very close,” Trump said.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu was very clear about his opposition to a Palestinian state,” he continued, “and I understand and respect his position on many things, but what he’s doing today is so good for Israel.”

The Trump administration’s plan proposed to end the conflict after Hamas returns the remaining Israeli hostages, living and dead. The militant Palestinian faction will have 72 hours to comply after Israel accepts the agreement, according to Trump.

The plan would additionally have Israeli forces slightly withdraw and exchange their own Palestinian hostages, including 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans who have been in Israeli detention since the war began nearly two years ago.

Trump’s breathless and rambling interpretation of the deal was contradicted by Netanyahu moments later, when the Israeli leader made it clear that he was already on board with the White House’s plan.

“I support your plan for ending the war in Gaza which achieved our war aims,” Netanyahu said.

It was not clear if Hamas agreed to the peace terms, but their consent is apparently not necessary. Trump said Monday that Israel has the “full backing” of the U.S. to defeat Hamas if it refuses the proposed arrangement.

President Donald Trump’s new plan to stop Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinians involves handing himself total control of Gaza—and of course, some good, old-fashioned real estate development.

Ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday, the White House released Trump’s plan to take over Gaza by creating an international “Board of Peace” to oversee its development and governance. The board will be chaired by one man: Trump.

The so-called Board of Peace would handle funding Gaza’s “redevelopment,” until the Palestinian Authority implements its own reform plan that satisfies Trump’s standards and “is conducive to attracting investment.” The board would also oversee a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” to govern Gaza, composed of “qualified Palestinians and international experts.” The board would likely retain broad discretion over its members.

It’s worth noting that while speaking in a joint press conference Monday, Netanyahu seemed to dismiss an agreement involving the Palestinian Authority. Still, he told Trump that he would “support” his plan.

Israel’s years-long military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, displaced nearly two million more amid widespread destruction, and sparked a deadly famine the Israeli government still claims is a hoax. The sweeping humanitarian catastrophe was bought and paid for by the U.S. government’s support of Israel. Now, Trump intends to stake a flag in the rubble.

Trump’s plan said Israel would not occupy Gaza, and that the U.S. would enlist other Arab nations to police the region. Rather than Gaza being occupied by the Israeli military, the plan pitched something called the “International Stability Force”: an international collaboration that would function as a “long-term internal security solution.” (If only a similar group of united nations already existed…)

“A panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East” would create an economic plan to “rebuild and energize” Gaza, the plan stated. The plan also referred to investment and development pitches from “well-meaning international groups.”

The plan makes good on Trump’s promise to transform Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” While Trump’s original plan from February pitched a functional ethnic cleansing, now Palestinians would not be forced to leave. “Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough,” the plan stated.

Senate Republicans have a glorified resort vacation scheduled just days after the looming government shutdown deadline.

Politico’s Playbook obtained an invitation for the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s fall “meeting” at the five-star Sea Island Resort in Sea Island, Georgia, October 3–5. Their schedule will include buffet meals, pickleball, golf, shooting, and lawn games—all as the fates of millions of Americans hang in the balance. Rates per night range from $495 to $599 per night, and the entire trip is paid for by the NRSC.

When asked by Playbook if Senate Republicans still plan to visit the resort if the government shuts down, which looks incredibly likely, an NRSC spokesperson refused to comment.

On Tuesday, September 30, Congress will either pass a destructive continuing resolution that will slash funding for health care and homeless shelters and increase spending on mass deportation and war—or shut down the government and give Trump an excuse to furlough or fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers. Pickleball really isn’t appropriate at a time like this.

The Democrats, for what it’s worth, aren’t innocent, either. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s “Napa Retreat” is scheduled for October 13–14, shortly after the Republicans’, and on what would be day 12 of a shutdown. And while there is still uncertainty about whether the government will remain open past September, the fact that our leaders already have their vacations planned either way does not inspire hope.