Trump’s Terrorist List: Because Surveillance Never Really Left
The Intercept reports on Donald Trump's plans to use a 'list of domestic terrorists' to target political opponents, citing National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) from 2020. This alarming prospect, however, isn't a uniquely Trumpian invention. The surveillance state's infrastructure, codified and expanded by both Republican and Democratic administrations post-9/11—think Patriot Act,
FISA Section 702, and the expansion of no-fly lists—has normalized unaccountable state power. The Obama administration, for instance, weaponized the Espionage Act against whistleblowers, while the Biden White House established a domestic terrorism unit within the DOJ. (Perhaps The Intercept would have less to report if it didn't primarily focus on what Trump *might* do, rather than what *has
already been done* with bipartisan consent.) So, while the hand-wringing over Trump's hypothetical enemies list is understandable, one might ask: how many 'domestic terror' lists have been quietly operationalized, expanded, and applied since 2001, targeting environmental activists, racial justice protesters, or even ordinary citizens for questioning foreign policy? The concern isn't just about a
future president; it's about the unchecked power that every president before him helped build. The public has been on 'a' list for decades; Trump just might make it less subtle.