Trump DOJ Unveils Bounty System to Hunt Individuals with Anti-MAGA Beliefs as Terrorists

Federal authorities under President Donald Trump are quietly building a domestic “extremist” list that targets protected political and religious beliefs, according to an FBI leaked memo obtained and published by reporter Ken Klippenstein.

The directive, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, orders the FBI to operationalize Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum‑7 (NSPM‑7) and launch what critics describe as a new War on Terror aimed inward at Americans rather than foreign threats.

Bondi orders FBI to list domestic “extremists”

Klippenstein reports that Bondi’s memo instructs the FBI to “compile a list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism,” explicitly focusing on Americans who hold “opposition to law and immigration enforcement,” “extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders,” “radical gender ideology,” “anti-Americanism,” “anti-capitalism,” and “anti-Christianity.” The memo frames those viewpoints as “indicators” of terrorism and orders federal Joint Terrorism Task Forces to “use all available investigative tools” to “map the full network of culpable actors” inside and outside the United States.

The FBI leaked memo directs agents to reopen and “retroactively investigate” incidents going back five years, effectively giving Washington a license to trawl old speech and conduct for new terrorism cases. Klippenstein notes that the document cites NSPM‑7 as its legal and policy foundation, transforming Trump’s earlier declaration on “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” into an operational plan.

Bounty system and surveillance incentives

Bondi’s directive goes beyond classification and rhetoric. Klippenstein writes that the memo orders the FBI to expand and heavily publicize its tip line while creating “a cash reward system” for information that leads to the identification and arrest of “leadership figures” within these newly defined extremist groups. The memo further instructs agents to “establish cooperators to provide information and eventually testify against other members,” incentivizing informants and internal snitches in political and religious communities swept up under the new definitions.

The document also steers Justice Department grant money toward state and local “domestic terrorism” programs, effectively paying local police to feed the new federal database. Klippenstein describes the overall scheme as “in essence, a bounty system for reporting on fellow Americans who are suspected of harboring those views and being motivated by those views in furtherance of terrorism.”

“War on Terror” turned inward after Charlie Kirk assassination

NSPM‑7 and Bondi’s memo grew out of the political shock following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, which Klippenstein says the Trump White House treated as a “9/11‑type event” for the MAGA movement. In his earlier reporting on NSPM‑7, he described the directive as a broad “declaration of war on just about anyone who isn’t MAGA,” warning that the administration planned to retool post‑9/11 counterterror powers against ideological opponents at home.

On the Redacted podcast with Clayton and Natalie Morris, Klippenstein warned that Bondi’s memo “is basically creating, in essence, a bounty system for reporting on fellow Americans” and that the criteria sweep in views that are not only legal but explicitly protected. He pointed to language targeting people who “do not have traditional views of family,” non‑Christians, and those who express anti‑capitalist or anti‑ICE sentiments. “Maybe if the focus seems left now, it’s being defined very broadly,” he said, adding that a future administration could easily flip the same machinery against different enemies.

🔥 The DOJ just unveiled a plan to hunt “domestic terrorists” even though the Constitution does not recognize that crime. It is a political label that can be used on anyone with the wrong ideas. @Kenklippenstein is with us. pic.twitter.com/IsWLBPp5In

— Redacted (@RedactedNews) December 18, 2025

Chilling effect and bipartisan danger

Klippenstein said a major Washington law firm, Covington & Burling, recently warned corporate clients that the directive will “have a chilling effect on speech,” signaling alarm even in establishment circles with no activist agenda. He argued that the memo’s power lies less in immediate mass arrests and more in scaring Americans into silence. “The effect we’re already seeing … is it’s going to scare people and make them not want to express things,” he told Redacted, calling that “a big loss” for a country that claims to protect free expression.

The reporter also stressed that both parties have already shown a willingness to stretch “terrorism” labels for domestic political purposes. He pointed to the Biden administration’s handling of January 6, saying it “treated” the riot “essentially as terrorism,” and warned that Trump’s framework will give future administrations a ready‑made apparatus to target their own opponents. Klippenstein said the Justice Department confirmed the authenticity of the FBI leaked memo, yet he noted that corporate media outlets beyond JP and The Guardian have largely ignored the story.

While Klippenstein questions whether the courts will meaningfully restrain the new program, given the post‑9/11 legal architecture built for global counterterror operations, he argues that only broad, principled opposition across the political spectrum can check a surveillance regime that now explicitly treats common political, religious and cultural positions as potential terrorism indicators.

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