US Secretary of State Rubio cites Berlin power outage as prime example of left-wing terrorism

Washington, DC — The Trump administration is intensifying its global campaign against left-wing extremist terrorism, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio citing a major power outage in Berlin as a key example of the threat.

Speaking at a ministerial meeting titled "Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism" at the US State Department, Rubio addressed representatives from North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

"You are here today because the lights went out in Berlin for five days this winter – the city's longest power outage since World War II," Rubio said.

Berlin Power Outage: Key Facts

• Date of attack: January 3, 2026
• Impact: 100,000 residents left without power for days
• Cause: Arson attack on the power supply
• Perpetrator: A group calling itself the "Vulkan group"
• Classification: Berlin's Office for the Protection of the Constitution categorizes the group as part of the violence-oriented, anarchist spectrum of the left-wing extremist scene

Rubio called for improved cross-country coordination and more intensive information exchange to combat such threats.

Rubio's Remarks on Left-Wing Extremism

Rubio described left-wing extremists in stark terms:

• "They despise the West because the West is great."
• He characterized leftists as "a spreading darkness" and "enemies of civilization."
• "We will dismantle these networks stone by stone," he added.

Next Steps

Rubio announced that the next ministerial meeting would take place "with partners in Germany." It remained unclear whether this meant the event would be held in Germany or co-hosted by German representatives. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

Participating Countries

According to a State Department spokesman, 66 countries took part in the event, including:

• Argentina
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Spain

Broader US Actions Against Left-Wing Groups

The Trump administration has already taken significant steps against left-wing extremist organizations:

• September 2025: President Trump declared Antifa structures in the US to be terrorist organizations — a move whose legal basis was questioned, as such classifications in the US typically apply only to foreign groups.
• Mid-November 2025: The US government placed the German left-wing extremist group "Antifa-Ost" and three other European groups on its terror list.

About "Antifa-Ost"

According to a US State Department statement, the group:

• Committed "numerous attacks against individuals it considers 'fascists' or part of the 'right-wing scene' in Germany" between 2018 and 2023
• Was also accused of carrying out "a series of attacks in Budapest in mid-February 2023"

The other groups placed on the terror list operated primarily in Italy and Greece, according to the statement.

Photo credits: AFP/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI; REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst