Trump administration considers executive order targeting nonprofits over alleged terrorist ties

The Trump administration is weighing an executive order that would designate some nonprofits as having terrorist ties, suspending their tax-exempt status, according to a Wall Street Journal report. A White House official called the discussion speculative, and no final decision has been made.

The Trump administration is considering issuing an executive order that would designate several nonprofit organizations as having ties to terrorism, a move expected to immediately freeze their tax exemption and could completely paralyze their operations, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to sources familiar with the matter, administration officials have been working on the order for months, though no final decision has been made and it is still under discussion. At this stage, it is not yet clear how many and which organizations would be included in the order. Trump signed a national security memorandum last year instructing the tax authority to ensure that no tax-exempt organization is involved in domestic terrorism or political violence. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in July that the administration is examining cases where tax-exempt status was exploited for foreign influence activities and violence. If the administration uses the provision to suspend tax exemption, the affected organization would have to sue the state and prove the decision was arbitrary, a process that could be challenging due to classified evidence.