Behind the scenes of Trump’s anticipated Antifa roundtable with Cabinet members

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is set to host a roundtable at the White House Wednesday afternoon to hear from independent journalists who have experienced Antifa’s violence first-hand, Fox News Digital learned. 

Trump will be joined Wednesday afternoon by members of his Cabinet, independent journalists and other administration officials for a “listening session” to discuss the radical left-wing group, which was recently designated a domestic terrorist organization, Fox News Digital learned. 

“For too long, Antifa has ravaged great American cities while ineffectual Democrat leaders turn a blind eye — and most in the media have gone right along with them,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Some reporters have been brave enough to blaze their own trail and report the facts rather than go along with the Fake News Groupthink.” 

The roundtable comes after Trump ordered National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, as part of his administration’s ongoing effort to remove illegal immigrants and crime from U.S. streets. The order, however, is currently tied up in the courts after a federal judge Sunday temporarily blocked the administration from deploying troops to Oregon. 

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Antifa is a far-left militant movement that pitches itself as an “antifascist” activist group. It has been accused of spreading violence through riots, most notably during the 2020 defund the police and Black Lives Matter riots, as well as more recently in Antifa-linked attacks on federal immigration officials and facilities as the Trump administration works to deport millions of illegal immigrants from the nation. 

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The Wednesday roundtable will include Trump delivering remarks to the group before hearing from Cabinet members and independent journalists, Fox News Digital learned ahead of the event. 

Cabinet members and administration officials who are scheduled to deliver remarks during the roundtable include Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Director of the FBI Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. 

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Independent journalists who are slated to join the discussion, Fox News Digital learned, include Cam Higby, Jonathon Choe, Andy Ngo, Katie Daviscourt, James Klug, Savannah Hernandez, Nick Shirley, Brandi Kruse and Julio Rojas. 

Ngo, for example, long has reported on Antifa’s riots and activism in Portland, Oregon, and other cities on the West Coast, gaining national prominence in 2019 when he was attacked by masked individuals during a Portland protest. He went on to author the 2021 book, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy.”

“The White House applauds these independent journalists; we look forward to hearing from those who have seen the facts for themselves and are sharing the truth about the violence, crime, and local Democrat leaders’ failure to address the problem,” Jackson added in her comment to Fox News Digital. “The Fake News should tune in, they could learn a thing or two!” 

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Leavitt previously and repeatedly has reprimanded the media when discussing the left-wing radical group, arguing mainstream outlets have not accurately reported on Antifa’s violence. 

“This is something the president campaigned on because we have seen a rise in violence perpetuated by Antifa, radical people across this country who subscribe to this group,” Leavitt said during remarks to the media in September. “And unfortunately, it’s gone widely uncovered by many in the legacy media. It also went completely ignored by the previous administration. Not anymore.” 

Democrats and critics of the Trump administration have argued that cities such as Portland, Oregon, where Antifa riots have previously played out, are safe and that the administration was allegedly conflating terrorism with protests. 

Trump designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization in September through an executive order that slammed the group for “advancing political violence.”

“Antifa recruits, trains, and radicalizes young Americans to engage in this violence and suppression of political activity, then employs elaborate means and mechanisms to shield the identities of its operatives, conceal its funding sources and operations in an effort to frustrate law enforcement, and recruit additional members,” the executive order stated. 

“Individuals associated with and acting on behalf of Antifa further coordinate with other organizations and entities for the purpose of spreading, fomenting, and advancing political violence and suppressing lawful political speech,” it added.