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4 Key Points From New White House Counter-Terror Strategy

Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump’s administration rolled out its new counterterrorism strategy overview on May 6, articulating recent policy shifts and new pledges going forward.

The 16-page strategy guide seeks to articulate an “America First” approach to dealing with militants, extremists, and criminal enterprises.

“For the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, America has returned to a common sense and reality-based Counterterrorism Strategy,” the document states.

“President Trump has [effected] a complete revision of how we defeat threats to America predicated on national sovereignty and civilizational confidence and the objective of destroying the groups who would kill Americans or hurt our interests as a free nation.”

Here are four key points in the new strategy rollout.

Violent Left-Wing Groups Fall Under Expanded Counterterror Scope

The new strategy document articulates a widened aperture for U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

“We face new categories and combinations of violent actors that make the established ways of doing counterterrorism insufficient or obsolete,” the document reads.

Although U.S. counterterror efforts have long focused on threats posed by radical Islamist groups, the new strategy document also lists “violent left-wing extremists” and “narcoterrorists and transnational gangs” among the top three major categories of terror groups.

The Trump administration has already taken steps to apply counterterrorism authorities to violent left-wing groups and ideological movements that oppose the American way of life as outlined in the founding documents.

In November 2025, the U.S. State Department designated four violent transnational left-wing groups as foreign terrorist organizations.

Trump previously issued an executive order declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, although U.S. law currently provides no domestic equivalent to a foreign terrorist organization designation.

Antifa members gather to demonstrate following the announcement of the results of the first round of the presidential election, in Nantes, France, on April 23, 2017. Jean-Sebastien Evrard/AFP via Getty Images

“Our national [counterterrorism] activities will also prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist,” the document states.

“We will use all the tools constitutionally available to us to map them at home, identify their membership, map their ties to international organizations like Antifa, and use law enforcement tools to cripple them operationally before they can maim or kill the innocent.”

The document, at one point, describes a so-called Red-Green alliance of deepening alignment between far-left and Islamist movements.

Focus Shifting to the Western Hemisphere

The move to list cartels and transnational gangs as a leading terror threat category aligns with a broader effort to shift the focus of U.S. counterterror operations to the Western Hemisphere.

“Our Strategy first prioritizes the neutralization of hemispheric terror threats by incapacitating cartel operations until these groups are incapable of bringing their drugs, their members, and their trafficked victims into the United States,” the document reads.

Since the start of Trump’s second term, the State Department has added 15 Latin American and Caribbean cartels and criminal gangs to its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

In September 2025, U.S. military forces began conducting lethal strikes on what officials said were confirmed drug trafficking boats operating in the Caribbean Sea, and later in the Eastern Pacific. Those lethal strikes have continued in the months since.

The U.S. Southern Command reported its most recent strike on a drug boat on May 5. Three people were killed in the strike.

Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores (rear), are escorted by federal agents after landing at a Manhattan helipad, as they make their way into an armored car en route to a federal courthouse in New York City on Jan. 5, 2026. XNY/Star Max/GC Images

U.S. forces also carried out a special operations raid on Venezuela on Jan. 3 to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and bring him to the United States to face criminal prosecution on charges related to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.

The new strategy document explicitly lists countering leading Islamic extremist groups as its second-highest priority. The document said the top five Islamist groups are al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, ISIS, ISIS-Khorasan, which is active in central and south Asia, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Expanding Resources and Partnerships

Overall, the new strategy document describes an effort to reinvigorate counterterrorism efforts under Trump’s tenure. That includes allocating additional domestic resources and bolstering international partnerships.

The document described the move to designate cartels and other transnational gangs as foreign terrorist organizations as one such step “to make available additional intelligence authorities and deny and disrupt their financial streams and access to the United States.”

Trump is the first U.S. president to apply formal terror designations to such groups and free up counterterrorism authorities to address their activities.

In March, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signed a multilateral security cooperation agreement for the Western Hemisphere with 16 counterparts across Latin America and the Caribbean. The agreement included a commitment to join “a coalition to combat narco-terrorism and other shared threats” in the region.

 

Sonora State Police officers conduct an operation in the deserts of Sonora, Mexico, on April 15, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

“President Trump has ushered in a new dawn of burdenshifting, and now is the time to work more aggressively with partners to crush lingering terrorist threats to the United States,” the new counterterrorism strategy document states.

The new document also described the use of diplomatic, financial, cyber, and covert actions to support counterterrorism efforts.

The administration said counterterrorism efforts also include “aggressive information operations to demoralize terror organizations and undermine their anti-American and anti-Western propaganda.”

“We have assets outside the realms of hard security in the informational space that were allowed to atrophy in recent years or were used for partisan political purposes,“ the document states. ”These were previously de-weaponized and must now be reinvigorated to demoralize and delegitimize terror threat groups and their enablers.”

Pledge for Apolitical, Evidence-Based Approach

Although the new counterterrorism guide elevates violent left-wing extremists to one of the three major groups responsible for perpetrating terror against the United States, the strategy document articulates a pledge to guard against counterterrorism authorities being abused for political ends.

“Our counterterrorism operations will be executed apolitically and founded upon reality-based threat assessments,” the document states.

“Our counterterrorism powers will not be used to target our fellow Americans who simply disagree with us. We will not permit the weaponization of America’s unparalleled CT capabilities for partisan purposes and in contravention of every American’s God-given rights.”

Members of the FBI knock on the doors of neighbors of a home associated with the suspected White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter in Torrance, Calif., on April 26, 2026. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

The strategy document described U.S. counterterrorism efforts under Trump’s predecessor—President Joe Biden—as being directed against conservatives, Christians, and parents protesting policy changes at school boards.

“Millions of Americans have lost confidence in the rectitude of the most powerful elements of our Federal government; the national security apparatus of the United States,” the document reads.

“That confidence can only be won back when counterterrorism is executed uninfected by politics, and if those who used their counterterrorism powers as a weapon against the innocent pay the full judicial cost for their crimes against the civil rights of innocent Americans.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 22:10

The HBO host couldn’t help noticing the all-caps looked awfully familiar.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing accusations of corruption for paying $20 million in taxpayer money to a nonprofit led by an executive who also sits on the board of his wife’s organization that promotes gender equity. It all comes down to diapers — as the initiative, “Golden State Start,” was rolled out ahead of...

The public rage building against Mayor Mamdani over his attacks on Gotham’s wealthy business leaders is welcome — and well deserved.

Cameco Sees As Many As 20 AP1000 Nuclear Reactors On The Horizon

Cameco leadership recently made announcements during their 2026Q1 earnings call regarding an expectation that as many as 20 AP1000 reactors will be announced for construction with support from the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Department of Energy (DOE). 

Grant Isaac, the Chief Operating Officer and President of Cameco, provided some color on the call for the difference between the different department efforts and the stages of discussions under each. 

We covered the announcement from the DOC at length last fall, providing details on the $80 billion agreement between the US government, Brookfield and Cameco to deploy up to 10 AP1000 reactors across the US.

Few updates have been given to this program so far. But Isaac comments that the “project continues to move along”. The efforts under the DOC contract appear to be focused on “long lead items that are required in order to stand” up a fleet of large reactors. 

Considering the domestic and global supply chain outside of China and Russia has been more focused on sustainment and decommissioning, there is currently a lack of capacity across all the involved companies to build multiple reactors a year. 

The sole-producer of the reactor cooling pumps for Westinghouse AP1000 reactor plants, Curtiss-Wright, recently remarked that they only have capacity to produce enough pumps for three to four reactors per year. Significant expansion efforts will be required to remove deployment roadblocks for multiple different systems and components. 

Another question trying to be answered under the DOC program is under what model the reactors could be built. Isaac says. Isaac said, “those models could be a range of things from a federal build, own and operate to a federal build-own transfer model all the way to perhaps a financing of an existing nuclear operator who simply is just looking for financing.”

But the ten large reactors being pursued under the DOC plan are apparently completely separate from as many as ten reactors that are being pursued under the DOE.

There are a number of utilities progressing towards the construction of pairs of AP1000 reactors, with “five or six of them in very advanced stages”. These utilities are coordinating with the DOE and the Office of Energy Dominance Financing to secure loans for the projects, as well as potentially ordering long lead items ahead of time. 

“So when you step back and look at it, the U.S. isn't just talking about potentially 10 reactors under the DOC program. They’re potentially telling about another 10 under the DOE more traditional approach.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 21:35

If you were running on the treadmill at a New Jersey hotel this week, you might have seen a funny sight.

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Trump Congratulates Incoming Iraqi Leader, Who Moves To Disarm Pro-Iran Militias

Via The Cradle

A committee comprising three senior Iraqi figures is close to finalizing an "executive plan" to disarm factions within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) that enjoy support from Iran, Asharq Al-Awsat reported on 8 May.

Development of the plan, which will be presented to US officials in the next few days, comes amid expected changes to the leadership of key security agencies under the incoming government of Ali al-Zaidi.

Trump congratulates Iraq PM nominee Ali al-Zaidi, eyes stronger ties

Zaidi was nominated by the Shia-majority Coordination Framework (CF) political bloc on April 27 as the consensus candidate to succeed Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. According to sources speaking to the Saudi newspaper, the three-member committee includes Zaidi, Sudani, and the leader of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri.

Washington has intensified pressure on Iraq's ruling Shia political parties to disarm the anti-terrorist militias and prevent their representatives from participating in the new government.

The sources revealed that the committee has held secret negotiations with leaders of the factions, providing their leaders with "ideas on how to disarm and integrate fighters."

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Badr Organization leader Amiri, who enjoys close relations with Iran, "was supposed to help build trust with the factions and persuade them to engage with the state." However, some meetings "did not proceed calmly" due to the request to disarm.

A spokesperson for one faction within the PMF said that Kataib Hezbollah, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, and Harakat al-Nujaba rejected handing over their weapons to any party whatsoever. The spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the three factions were "prepared to pay any price resulting from their refusal to disarm."

The PMF were created in 2014 with support from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force to fight ISIS and were later formally incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces.

During the war between the US and Iran that began on 28 February, the US air force bombed PMF positions across the country, while the resistance factions carried out drone attacks against US bases in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) and the US embassy in Baghdad.

In a phone call last Wednesday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly told Zaidi that Washington that the legitimacy of his incoming government would depend on its ability to distance the armed factions from the apparatus of the state.

A senior political official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the three-man committee had, under mounting US pressure, accelerated its work in recent weeks to disarm the factions. The official added that the executive plan included restructuring the PMF and ensuring it hands over its heavy and medium weapons, while the US is pressuring Baghdad to disband the PMF entirely.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported that former US General David Petraeus may visit Baghdad this week to ensure that "the new government fully severs its ties with the armed factions.

Petraeus, who holds no formal government position currently, commanded the 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. He later became CIA director, overseeing the covert war in Syria in partnership with Al-Qaeda.

In 2004, he worked with some of the leaders of the Iran-backed armed factions, including Hadi al-Amiri, to establish a new Iraqi police force after Iraq's army and police were disbanded by the US occupation head, Paul Bremer.

Iraqi police commandos operating under Petraeus and Iraq's Ministry of Interior, in particular the Wolf Brigade, were known for abducting, killing, and torturing Sunni Muslims. Some of the police commandos were trained by US commander James Steele, who was known for running death squads in El Salvador in the 1980's.

On Friday, Republican Party member Malik Francis told Shafaq News Agency that the US administration "appears so far to be cautious in its dealings with Ali al-Zaidi, but it is not showing a direct hostile stance towards him."

Francis stated that Washington is not yet giving Zaidi a "blank check," but at the same time, it is not treating him as an adversary. On Thursday, the US Treasury Department announced it had imposed new sanctions on a list of Iraqi individuals and companies for their alleged connection to Iran.

Politicians from the CF said the sanctions may have been intended to "block undesirable nominations" to posts in the new government and "steer the process toward other candidates."

The PMU factions are reportedly exploring the possibility of avoiding direct participation in the new government, while backing figures described as independent for ministerial positions to maintain indirect influence over those posts.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 21:00

Julie Vanloo made her presence felt within the first 20 seconds of checking into Friday’s season opener.

But unlike other players fitting that description, he doesn’t play multiple positions. Instead, he’s a pitcher who has shown the capability to handle various roles.

Miller previously called out the "RHONJ" alum over her warm comments about Wilson.

Miller previously called out the "RHONJ" alum over her warm comments about Wilson.