Radical Islam To Be Focus Of Trump Administration; Anti-Extremism Program To Be Renamed

The Trump administration plans to revamp its anti-extremism program to focus solely on Islamic radicals and ignore threats posed by white supremacists who have carried out bombings and shootings in the United States, Reuters reported.

The administration plans to change the name of the Countering Violent Extremism program to Countering Islamic Extremists or Countering Radical Islamic Extremism, sources told Reuters.

The move could be another sign of the influence wielded by White House political strategist Stephen Bannon, who ran the alt-right Breitbart website before joining Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Trump repeatedly criticized the Obama administration for being weak on the issue during the campaign and ridiculed President Barack Obama for refusing to use the phrase “radical Islam.”

The anti-extremism program, which is focused on U.S. residents, sets up community partnerships and educational programs or counter-messaging campaigns to deter groups and potential lone attackers.

Backers of the program fear renaming it could make it more difficult to work with Muslim groups already wary of the administration, especially in light of the executive order issued last Friday temporarily blocking travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority companies.

Organizations have been suspicious of the program, fearing it could function as a surveillance tool for police.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly reportedly is reviewing the list of organizations due to receive grants from the program.

Some congressional Republicans have criticized the program as politically correct and ineffective.

Authorities have blamed radical and violent ideologies as motives for both massacres committed by a white supremacist in Charleston, South Carolina, and by Islamist militants in California, Florida and New York.

Congress appropriated $10 million for the program in 2016, and Homeland Security handed out the first round of grants Jan. 13. Many went to local governments, police departments, universities and nonprofit organizations. Some of the money went to Life After Hate, which rehabilitates former neo-Nazis and other domestic extremists.

A 2015 FBI report obtained by the Intercept concluded white supremacists and other domestic extremists have an active presence in U.S. police departments and other law enforcement agencies, often leading to investigative breaches.