Watch: Full opening remarks from the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, Loy Henderson Conference Room, U.S. Department of State.

In the Loy Henderson Conference Room at the U.S. Department of State on July 16, 2026, officials from more than 60 nations gathered for an unprecedented conference: a Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, convened to confront what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called an “encroaching darkness” of far-left political violence. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau opened the session, followed by remarks from Rubio, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

Landau set the tone by invoking a history many in the room remembered firsthand — the Red Brigades and Baader-Meinhof Group in Europe, the Weather Underground in the United States, and the Tupamaros and Montoneros in South America. “Many of our countries have familiarity in the past with political terrorism, and unfortunately, we’re seeing a resurgence of that again today,” he said, introducing Rubio as the ministerial’s host.

Rubio: A Doctrine Rebuilt Around the Wrong Blind Spot

Rubio told the assembled delegates that Western counterterrorism policy has spent 25 years organized almost entirely around the fight against radical Islamist extremism — a focus he called understandable in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the 2004 Madrid train bombings, and the 2005 London transit attacks. That strategy, he said, largely succeeded: jihadist attacks and plots in the United States are down two-thirds since ISIS’s peak, and jihadist terrorism deaths in Europe fell roughly 97 percent between 2015 and 2024.

But Rubio argued that success came with a cost — a persistent blind spot toward far-left political violence, one he said was reinforced by media, academia, and “legacy institutions” that treat the subject as a partisan fiction.

“A bomb planted by a neo-Nazi group was a nefarious and murderous act of evil. It is. But a bomb planted by a Marxist revolutionary — well, that’s just merely a tragic excess of idealism.” — Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Rubio pointed to the 2020 riots following George Floyd’s death as an example of what he called a double standard, referencing a widely circulated image of a news chyron reading “mostly peaceful” over footage of a burning neighborhood. He argued that far-left violence has historically been treated as “sacrosanct” rather than confronted as terrorism.

A History Delegates Were Asked to Remember

Rubio said the current moment represents a resurgence of this older pattern: left-wing violence in Germany up more than 40 percent in the past year, and more than 80 percent of radical violence in Greece now attributed to far-left and anarchist actors. He cited a string of recent attacks — a firebombing in Greece, a five-day Berlin blackout, a fatal beating in Lyon — as the reason delegations traveled to Washington despite disagreements on trade, energy, and immigration.

“They despise the West because the West is great.” — Secretary of State Marco Rubio

He outlined the administration’s response to date: National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, the designation of four far-left extremist groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, a Rewards for Justice offer of up to $10 million for financing information, and a Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Workshop that will next be co-hosted with Germany. “We will dismantle these networks brick by brick,” Rubio said.

Miller: A Threat to the “Survival of Our Republican Form of Government”

Miller argued that appeals to civil liberties by those accused of left-wing violence are frequently pretextual, and cited what he called jury nullification in cases involving assaults on ICE and federal law enforcement officers. He pointed to an 8,000 percent increase in violent assaults against immigration enforcement personnel and referenced a sniper incident targeting ICE officers in Dallas, Texas.

“If your civilization is your home, you must defend it with the same passion and force as if an enemy intruder is inside your own house where your family lives.” — Stephen Miller

Miller also cited the attempted assassinations of President Trump and the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk as evidence of an escalating threat, and closed by urging early action against extremism rather than waiting until “the point of no return has been crossed.”

Bessent: Following the Money Behind Political Violence

Bessent detailed the work of Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, established after 9/11, and said the administration is now applying similar tools domestically. He said the U.S. has designated four far-left extremist groups abroad as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and that the Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned 17 sham charities and nonprofits for funding Hamas-linked activity.

“We will identify illicit funding, however artfully it is concealed. We will dismantle the networks that season political terrorism, however respectable their fronts may be.” — Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent

Bessent emphasized that Treasury’s enforcement actions target suspected unlawful conduct rather than beliefs or ideology, and that nonprofit and charitable structures are increasingly being examined for potential exploitation as financial conduits.

What Comes Next

Deputy Secretary Landau closed the opening session by previewing panel discussions scheduled throughout the day, describing the gathering as an opportunity for participating nations to exchange perspectives on a threat officials described as transnational, coordinated, and increasingly intertwined with hostile state actors, including Iranian proxy networks and Cuban intelligence infrastructure, according to Rubio’s remarks.

The ministerial builds on the visa restriction policy announced separately by Rubio the following day, which invokes Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar foreign nationals who finance, incite, or aid far-left terrorist networks from entering the United States.