Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Heavy machinery tears down a section of the East Wing of the White House as construction begins on President Donald Trumps planned ballroom, in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2025. US President Donald Trump held a glitzy dinner October 15, 2025 to thank billionaires and top companies for donating to the new $250 million ballroom he is building at the White House. The guests included representatives from tech firms like Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft and Palantir and defense giant Lockheed Martin, according to US media citing a White House guest list. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Article (news)

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1784253181956Screen Shot 2026-07-17 at 9.52.46 AM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Heavy machinery tears down a section of the East Wing of the White House as construction begins on President Donald Trumps planned ballroom, in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2025. <em>Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color:transparent">WASHINGTON, United States — The United States on Thursday launched a scathing attack on left-wing extremists, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for global cooperation to fight a &quot;new wave of this old evil.&quot;</span></div><div><span style="background-color:transparent"><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/1/21/from-the-border-to-woke-trump-signs-raft-of-orders-on-day-1-2222">From the border to &#x27;woke,&#x27; Trump signs raft of orders on Day 1</a></span></div><p>In opening remarks at a ministerial meeting on &quot;The Resurgence of Political Terrorism,&quot; Rubio said that &quot;far-left terrorism&quot; had become a &quot;blind spot&quot; after the scrutiny on jihadist extremism following the September 11, 2001 attacks.</p><p>&quot;Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream or, worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy,&quot; he said.</p><p>Citing an increase in leftist attacks in Europe and the United States since 2016, Rubio called for boosting cooperation to combat an ideology he described as &quot;a poisonous resentment cloaked in the language of equality and justice.&quot;</p><p>Rubio—a fierce anti-communist whose parents fled Cuba—said leftist extremism draws its inspiration from a &quot;hatred for civilization itself.&quot;</p><p>More than 60 delegations from Europe to Asia joined the event, where US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also spoke.</p><p>&quot;You are here because your political leaders are being attacked and stabbed and shot in your streets,&quot; Rubio told the delegates, &quot;because your businesses have been bombed, because your railways have been sabotaged, because your police officers have been beaten and burned.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RIGHT-WING TERROR ABSENT</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Rubio and Miller made no mention, however, of right-wing violence which, according to a comprehensive 2025 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has been a far larger problem in the United States the past 30 years.</p><p>The CSIS report acknowledged there has been an increase in left-wing terrorist attacks and plots over the past decade.</p><p>But it said &quot;such violence has risen from very low levels and remains much lower than historical levels of violence carried out by right-wing and jihadist attackers.&quot;</p><p>The administration of US President Donald Trump has targeted Europe in particular, calling it an &quot;incubator of terrorist threats.&quot;</p><p>Rubio gave several examples of violent acts blamed on leftist groups in Europe, including the sabotage of the French rail network for the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the killing of French far-right activist Quentin Deranque in February.</p><p>According to a State Department fact sheet, there were 21 attacks in the European Union attributed to &quot;far-left and anarchist terrorists&quot; in 2024, compared to 24 attacks from jihadists.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>ANTIFA</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The &quot;Antifa&quot; movement, short for &quot;anti-fascist,&quot; has also been targeted by the Trump administration, which designated it a &quot;domestic terrorist organization&quot; last year after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.</p><p>However, experts say it is a nebulous movement of left-wing activists that is more of a political ideology than an organized group.</p><p>In the United States, the movement gained traction after Trump&#x27;s first election in 2016, and many conservatives blamed riots and protests in 2020 after the death of George Floyd on anti-fascist protesters.</p><p>In his remarks, Miller launched a virulent attack on &quot;leftists,&quot; saying they were spreading a &quot;cancer&quot; in society.</p><p>&quot;Not one of the people that is demonstrating looks like a normal person,&quot; he said. &quot;They&#x27;re all deformed in some way in their appearance, in their dress, in their mannerism.&quot;</p><p>Critics accuse Trump himself of inciting violence.</p><p>On returning to the White House last year, he pardoned more than 1,000 of his supporters who had stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.</p><p>Shortly after Thursday&#x27;s meeting, Rubio announced visa restrictions on members of &quot;far-left terrorist&quot; groups.</p><p>Eleven congressional Democrats told Rubio in a letter that the administration&#x27;s focus on far-left extremism was &quot;troubling&quot; and appeared to stray from previous Republican and Democratic administrations&#x27; concerns about how &quot;racially-motivated violent extremism&quot; posed a threat to the United States.</p><p>&quot;The State Department has made no indication that it is taking an apolitical and comprehensive approach to countering violent extremism,&quot; wrote the lawmakers, led by the House Foreign Affairs Committee&#x27;s top Democrat, Gregory Meeks.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/58hJJB_jQvY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RvIpc1dz-3M?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FYz9ucsASBo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The United States on Thursday launched a scathing attack on left-wing extremists, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for global cooperation to fight a "new wave of this old evil."</p>

The United States on Thursday launched a scathing attack on left-wing extremists, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for global cooperation to fight a "new wave of this old evil."

US wants to globalize fight against far-left 'terrorism'

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

BINI

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

World

US wants to globalize fight against far-left 'terrorism'

Léon Bruneau,

Agence France-Presse

Published July 17, 2026 09:54 AM PHT

Read More:

Washington

United States

us

politics

terrorism

trump

left

Agence France-Presse

ABS-CBN Newsletter

Your go-to source for the latest news, entertainment highlights, exclusive interviews, and updates on your favorite Kapamilya stars.

ABS-CBN Newsletter

Your go-to source for the latest news, entertainment highlights, exclusive interviews, and updates on your favorite Kapamilya stars.

Sign Up

I have read and agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.