US will focus counterterrorism efforts on left-wing groups, Rubio says

The US will push to focus international counterterrorism efforts on “far-left terror,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells officials from over 60 nations gathered in Washington, saying leftist violence has long been overlooked.

The conference in Washington hosted by Rubio has sparked concerns from Democrats that the Trump administration is politicizing counterterrorism efforts and draining resources from fighting extremism on other fronts.

In a speech, Rubio says the Islamic militancy threat is “severely diminished” due to coordinated international efforts but that rising left-wing violence is a “blind spot.”

“We can and we must identify and map this threat and rebuild our counterterrorism architecture to defeat it,” Rubio says, citing a transnational threat from groups who hate the West and target its politicians and infrastructure.

The conference marks the Trump administration’s most significant effort yet to internationalize a counterterrorism focus that critics say is not supported by data.

Trump has made ​countering left-wing groups a priority. Trump singled out the antifa movement on the campaign trail ‌in ⁠2024, and vowed to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence after the killing of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk last year.

The Trump administration convened a law enforcement workshop in May to discuss the threat of far-left groups and would co-host a second workshop with Germany, Rubio says.