Donald Trump\u2019s second term in the White House is marked by changes and reforms in the USA\u2019s foreign policy. International terrorism, which was not paid much attention during the presidential campaign, has been identified as a priority element of this policy.<\/p>\n
On January 20, 2025, on the first day of his term in office, the 47th<\/sup> President signed a number of the most important documents, in his opinion, including the Executive Order [1] \u201cProtecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats\u201d.<\/p>\n This document is in line with Donald Trump\u2019s decision during his first term, according to which restrictions were imposed on the possibility of entering the United States for citizens of countries such as Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and Yemen. This time, however, the executive order provides for tighter control over individuals who have received visas or are about to receive them. These checks are designed to make sure that applicants \u201cdo not bear hostile attitudes toward the USA\u2019s citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n All institutions related to national security (including the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the CIA) must be involved in the migrant vetting process. The executive order also instructs the heads of those agencies to submit a report to the President within two months with a list of countries that do not provide full information about their citizens, which may lead to a decision to suspend their entry into the United States.<\/p>\n The next step will be to identify individuals who potentially threaten the USA\u2019s security and take measures that will lead to their deportation from the country. In addition, the regulation requires the implementation of solutions that will prevent refugees and stateless persons from entering the United States.<\/p>\n Other entities that have been added to the list of terrorist groups under Executive Order 14157 include Mexican drug cartels and other transnational organized criminal groups (hereinafter referred to as OCGs): Mara Salvatrucha, Tren de Aragua, Unidos, Golfo, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Noreste, Jalisco Nueva Generacion and Sinaloa.<\/p>\n The designation of cartels as terrorist groups provides intelligence services and law enforcement agencies involved in the fight against organized crime with additional means and powers to detain their members, minimize their influence or eliminate those groups. This is directly related to the launch of a more aggressive anti-terrorism policy and Donald Trump\u2019s decision of February 1, 2025 to ease the rules related to actions against terrorist groups introduced by the previous administration. Until now, the US military and the CIA had to obtain official permission from the White House to conduct UAVs\u2019 strikes. During a meeting with the US Africa Command, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a directive that simplifies the formalities required for such attacks. Now, decisions about why and whom to attack are made mainly by commanders on the ground. In addition, they have the prerogative to attack a target solely on the basis of the subject\u2019s membership in a terrorist group. On the one hand, such actions can speed up the weakening of terrorist groups\u2019 capabilities, but on the other hand, they can lead to erroneous decisions and possible civilian casualties. In the case of organized criminal groups, the elimination of the organization\u2019s leader often leads to a split within the structure and its division into two or more groups.<\/p>\n On February 4, 2025, Donald Trump signed the Presidential National Security Memorandum on Iran. The document contains three points that should be implemented as part of the anti-Iranian policy, two of which relate to limiting Tehran\u2019s potential development of nuclear weapons. The third point refers to the need to neutralize the Iranian terrorist network. Its implementers are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who will control the implementation of the sanctions policy, and Attorney General Pamela Bondi, who is responsible for prosecuting Iranian-funded terrorist groups and finding ways to arrest terrorists and extradite them to the United States.<\/p>\n Donald Trump has also returned the Yemeni Houthis to the list of terrorist organizations, explaining that they are supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Quds Forces. The latter specialize in unconventional warfare and are responsible for supplying weapons and training to terrorist groups around the world. The IRGC, among other things, assists militants in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Syria, and Yemen. The IRGC\u2019s goal, as declared by Tehran, is to liberate the region from the domination of Western countries and Israel. Besides, the IRGC is accused of carrying out a series of attacks on US Navy ships and creating problems for the allies\u2019 trade (60 % of EU-related ships were forced to bypass Africa instead of going through the Red Sea).<\/p>\n On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump effectively declared war on the Houthis, resulting in several attacks by the US Central Command on targets in Sanaa and the northern province of Saada. In addition to the United States, the Houthis have also accused the United Kingdom of air strikes, although London has not done so, but has provided assistance to Washington (for example, in the supply of fuel).<\/p>\n The hostility in US\u2013Iranian relations is particularly exacerbated by Iran\u2019s cooperation with Hamas, which has been recognized as a terrorist organization by the US State Department since 1997. However, it is worth noting that American leaders recently met with representatives of Hamas in Qatar and held talks on the topic of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. This marks a departure from the long-standing US policy of refusing to engage in direct negotiations with groups it considers terrorist. Until now, negotiations had been conducted with the participation of intermediaries (in particular, Egypt and Qatar).<\/p>\n However, this tactical step does not mean a change in the conceptual approach to terrorist groups. Donald Trump confirmed this by calling on Hamas to withdraw from the conflict, while threatening that otherwise the United States would provide Israel with all the necessary means to destroy the organization.<\/p>\n A week after the attacks, then-US President George W. Bush said: \u201cEvery nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime\u201d.<\/p>\n In January 2002, in his State of the Union Address [2], the American leader outlined the course of action his administration would take to fight global terrorism. It was then that the term \u201caxis of evil\u201d was coined, covering countries such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea, i.e. countries that seek to possess weapons of mass destruction and are open to possible cooperation with terrorist organizations to proliferate them. This term served as the basis for the so-called Bush Doctrine [3], which was characterized, among other things, by the following quote: \u201cThe war on terrorism cannot be won on the defense. We must take the fight to enemy territory\u201d. The Americans had to act preventively, taking their activities outside the United States. An important element of George W. Bush\u2019s struggle against terrorism was an attempt to force individual actors in international politics to take sides.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, we do not distinguish between terrorists and the states that protect them. We will hold them equally accountable\u201d, the Master of the White House said, and this policy was embodied in the American invasion of Afghanistan, which began in 2001. The doctrine also stated that the United States would attack al-Qaeda wherever it exists, preferably with the state on whose territory it is present. And if that state does not agree, then without it.<\/p>\n Barack Obama continued the war on terrorism, although he did it in a slightly different way than his predecessor. At the verbal level, he took a different approach to the functioning of the Guantanamo Bay prison, announcing the need to close it in January 2009. But, as we know, those statements were not accompanied by any specifics, as the institution continued to operate for years. According to Professor Zbigniew Lewicki in his book American Presidential Doctrines of Foreign Policy and National Security, the Obama administration focused on increasing strikes against the leaders and targets of terrorist organizations, mostly using drones. \u201cDrones have turned al-Qaeda\u2019s command and training structure into a burden, forcing the group to choose between having no leaders or having them dead\u201d, said American political scientist Daniel Byman. The most impressive success of Barack Obama\u2019s administration in the context of fighting terrorism was the Navy SEAL operation \u201cNeptune\u2019s Spear\u201d, which resulted in the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011.<\/p>\n The period of Joe Biden\u2019s presidency (2021-2025) is widely perceived as being associated with the chaotic withdrawal of the US contingent from Afghanistan. However, it should be noted that the situation is more complicated, and the actions of his administration were de facto the implementation of Donald Trump\u2019s agreement previously made with the Taliban.<\/p>\n Speaking about Joe Biden\u2019s policy in the context of fighting terrorism, one cant\u2019s help mentioning the problem of so-called domestic terrorism. It was under President Joe Biden that the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism was adopted for the first time in the USA\u2019s history [4].<\/p>\nLatin America As a Terrorist Threat<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>The United States has almost always classified Iran (since 1984), Syria (since 1979), and North Korea (since 2017) as state sponsors of terrorism. The exception is Cuba, which \u201cmaneuvers\u201d within this list. Before the end of his term, Joe Biden removed the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for a commitment to release 553 political prisoners. However, Donald Trump reversed this decision after taking office. Similarly, Barack Obama removed Cuba from the blacklist in 2015, but Donald Trump returned it to the list in 2021.<\/p>\nAfrica and the Middle East in the Crosshairs<\/h2>\n
<\/a>However, the mentioned possibility of attacks on terrorist targets is more aimed at groups operating in the Middle East and on the African continent. In this regard, the United States has conducted at least six air strikes against the Islamic State (hereinafter \u2014 ISIS) in Somalia and al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria. Donald Trump has also announced that he authorized the elimination of one of the senior leaders of ISIS, who was planning its terrorist actions. There is no exact information about this person, although experts suggest that it is the so-called emir of the Somali wing of ISIS. In addition, since the introduction of new solutions to combat terrorists, at least four such attacks have been carried out in Syria.<\/p>\nPrevious Presidents\u2019 Approaches to Counterterrorism<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Analyzing Donald Trump\u2019s anti-terrorism policy, which is another variant of the US administration\u2019s approach to the problem of terrorism, one of the main challenges to the United States in the twenty-first century, it is worth recalling the actions of the previous masters of the White House. The moment of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, which killed about three thousand people, was a turning point for the United States in fighting Islamic fundamentalism.<\/p>\nCounterterrorism in Donald Trump\u2019s First Term in Office<\/h2>\n