The new US National Counterterrorism strategy, released yesterday by the White House, adopts harsh rhetoric against the Left, accusing it of violent extremism. In the document, the Trump administration identifies three main threats to National Security: “narco-terrorists and transnational gangs,” “historic Islamist terrorists,” and “violent Left-wing extremists, including anarchists and antifascists.”

Particular attention has been drawn to the section concerning Europe, as the U.S. government highlights the links between open-border policies and globalization to the spread of terrorism, describing Europe as a “breeding ground for terrorist threats.” The document released by the White House states:

“It is evident that these well-organized hostile organizations exploit open borders and the ideals of globalization associated with them. The more these foreign cultures spread, and the longer current policies in Europe continue, the more terrorism there will be.”

A key role in shaping the strategy is reportedly attributed to Sebastian Gorka, a figure who has faced criticism in recent years by the Left.

Gorka, the son of Hungarian parents who fled to United Kingdom after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and its suppression by the Soviet Union, was born in 1970. He studied and worked in security and counterterrorism issues and became a U.S. citizen in 2012 after immigrating to the United States.

His political and journalistic career led him briefly into the first Trump administration. In 2017, he left the White House following internal conflicts, but remained active in the political and media environment of the American right, mainly through radio programs, podcasts, and television appearances. Today, he serves as an adviser to the American president on National Security issues.

In the past, Gorka has stated that 98% of terrorists in the United States are Muslims, while in a 2016 article for Breitbart he accused Muslim immigrants of opposing American values and “wanting to kill Americans.” As a result, many leftists critics accused him of “Islamophobia”. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) -as…expected- described him as an “anti-Muslim racist.”

Undeterred, Gorka has repeatedly explained in articles and television appearances that he sees Islam itself as the root of the problem. At the same time, he is a fierce critic of illegal immigration and open borders policies, and has openly argued that the West is engaged in an ideological and cultural conflict with radical Islamism.

Reports and Left-wing organizations in both the United States and Europe have vaguely referred to alleged ties or contacts between him and “nationalist” or “far-right” circles in Hungary. Gorka has categorically denied these claims.