Trump Designates Anti-Communism Week in Election Day Proclamation

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump declared Nov. 1 through Nov. 7 as Anti-Communism Week with a presidential action signed on Election Day.

“I call upon all Americans to stand firm in their defense against any threat to the American way of life and to protect our burning flame of liberty from the darkness of communism.”

The document describes socialism and communism as persistent threats to Americans’ liberty, ideologies designed to “eliminate individual opportunity, subjugate individuals to the state, and extinguish the God-given rights upon which free nations are built.”

Trump contrasted communism’s harmful nature—utilizing “control over human thought, creativity, and political expression, resulting in suffering, poverty, exploitation, violence, and misery for millions”—with the ideals instilled by the nation’s founders.

“We must remain vigilant in defending the principles that sustain our Republic and ensure the lessons of history are never forgotten nor repeated,” he wrote in the proclamation.

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“[W]e renew our commitment to protect the sacred values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness from the chains of tyranny.”

More than a billion people are living under a communist regime’s control in five countries around the world, including the Chinese Communist Party, Cuba’s Communist Party, the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, the Workers’ Party of North Korea, and the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Historically, communism is responsible for more than 100 million deaths globally.

The timing of the action, falling while the earliest polls were closing, comes after Trump criticized Democratic Party candidates as socialists and communists while on the campaign trail crisscrossing the nation over the past month.

After a wave of candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America won primary elections across the country earlier this year, Republicans focused their messaging on countering communism and socialist policies.

The Democratic Socialists of America made national headlines last year with the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor. His election spurred a flurry of criticism from Republicans, who said it was a signal the Democratic Party was moving far left on the political spectrum.

The president’s Nov. 3 proclamation serves as a commitment to protect the Constitution from insidious acts, though it is limited in terms of legal authority.

Legislation introduced by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) last year sought to make Anti-Communism Week an annual occurrence, though the bill has stalled in committee.