On Thursday, July 16th, 2026, top officials from the Trump administration convened a meeting of 66 nations to address what they described as the threat of leftwing violence. The conference, organized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and attended by senior adviser Stephen Miller and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, was billed as a “ministerial on the resurgence of political violence.” However, the focus was exclusively on combating leftist violence.

Rubio and Miller launched a series of harsh critiques against leftwing activism, with Rubio using dehumanizing language to describe leftwing activists, saying, “They can call themselves anti-capitalist or anti-imperialist, communist, anarchist or Marxist. It’s always the same.” He also implied that the United States had largely succeeded in its counterterrorism efforts following the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Miller dismissed concerns about civil rights abuses by the administration, accusing leftwing violence and terrorism of using “completely pretextual and disingenuous appeal to civil liberties in an effort to shield its own violence.” Both officials cited the 2025 National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 as a framework for addressing leftist violence, though its legal authority remains unclear.

Notably, the officials did not address rightwing violence incidents, such as the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. The event coincided with former President Donald Trump intensifying efforts to label his political opponents and an increasing number of politicians associated with the Democratic Socialists of America as “communists.”

A State Department spokesperson confirmed that the 66 participating countries included Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, and Spain. Rubio emphasized the international dimension of the effort, stating, “We have no choice but to confront this menace together.”

Sources