SILENCING THE CRITICS

After Charlie Kirk's killing, President Trump looks for ways to clamp down on dissent

- - BY BRIAN BENNETT

IN HIS ZEAL TO PUNISH OPPONENTS, AS IN SO MUCH else, President Donald Trump has made no secret of being willing to defy norms.

He crosses politics with justice—he has been open about having ordered the Sept. 25 federal indictment of former FBI director James Comey, despite reports that some Administration officials found the evidence thin—and has sought to clamp down on speech and protest from his detractors.

That dynamic was made explicit when Vice President J.D. Vance appeared on Charlie Kirk's podcast the Monday after the conservative activist was killed. "We are going to go after the NGO network that foments and facilities and engages in violence," he said, referring to nongovernmental organizations he claimed are left-leaning. (A study of U.S. political violence by the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute found that right-wing terrorism has caused more deaths than leftist violence both over the past five years and since 1975.)

Asked about the Administration's plans, a White House official told TIME in a statement: "The White House is exploring a wide variety of options to put pen to paper to address left-wing political violence and the network of organizations that fuel and fund it." Such vows extend the Administration's efforts to bring to heel its critics, including political opponents, universities, major media outlets—and, now, charities.