Trump signs memorandum aimed at investigating liberal groups, says George Soros 'likely' target

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Thursday aimed at marshalling federal law enforcement to investigate liberal groups, citing concerns about domestic terrorism as he ramps up efforts to go after political opposition.

“This is the first time in American history that there is an all of government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said at the White House.

FBI Director Kash Patel said law enforcement would focus on who is funding such groups, saying he plans to “follow the money.”

“We are properly going to chase them down like the domestic terrorists that they are,” Patel said.

The memorandum directs the National Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is part of the FBI, to “coordinate and supervise a comprehensive national strategy to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt entities and individuals engaged in acts of political violence and intimidation.”

It further states that the Terrorism Task Force should investigate “institutional and individual funders, and officers and employees of organizations” who “aid and abet” targeted groups. The Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service and other federal law enforcement agencies also would participate in investigations, and Attorney General Pam Bondi is directed to submit a list of groups to classify as domestic terrorist organizations.

Trump recently urged Bondi in a social media post to seek criminal charges against high-profile critics, such as former FBI Director James Comey; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

In signing the memorandum, Trump mentioned two major liberal donors who could come under scrutiny, George Soros and Reid Hoffman. Soros is a “likely candidate” for investigation, Trump said.

“Could be a lot of people,” the president said, adding: “If they are funding these things they’re going to have some problems, because they’re agitators and they’re anarchists.”

Soros’ Open Society Foundations rejected the idea that it funds terrorism in a statement released Sept. 25 in response to reporting by the New York Times that the Trump administration is preparing to go after the group.

“Our activities are peaceful and lawful, and our grantees are expected to abide by human rights principles and comply with the law,” the statement reads. “These accusations are politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech. When power is abused to take away the rights of some people, it puts the rights of all people at risk.”

Trump has lashed out at the left following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and more recently after a shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas that killed one detainee and injured two others.

Law enforcement authorities investigating Kirk’s killing have said the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, held a “leftist ideology” and had become increasingly political in recent years. Officials, however, have not said that Robinson was linked with a specific left-leaning organization.

Patel posted a photo showing bullets from the Dallas shooting with the words “ANTI-ICE” inscribed on them.

Following the fatal Kirk shooting, Trump and his allies have largely ignored examples of political violence from the political right, including the June assassination of Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, the home attack of Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi, the April home arson targeting Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

An analysis by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, found that 3,597 people were killed in politically-motivated attacks between Jan. 1, 1975 and Sept. 10, 2025. Nearly 3,000 of the deaths came from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

When excluding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the study found the political right accounted for about 61% of the deaths, followed by 23% from terrorists inspired by Islamist ideology, and 11% from the political left.