The two faces of US counterterrorism under trump

Abstract

Donald Trump made defeating terrorism one of the defining themes of his campaign for president, but his counterterrorism policies in office have been Janus-faced. On one side is actual counterterrorism. These are policies that have evolved under a Trump administration and are sometimes in place despite, rather than because of the president, but which still exist within a traditional counterterrorism paradigm. The other side is faux counterterrorism—policies dressed up as counterterrorism, and which are intended purely to serve Trump’s political purposes.