A recent Politico article noted that the U.S. Department of State is intent on sanctioning a white supremacist group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The story explained that the White House had yet to approve the State Department plan. Historically, the White House, until the Trump administration, has played a secondary and non-directive role in shaping terrorist designations.
There are some exceptions. During the Obama years, the White House got involved in the FTO designations of Boko Haram, Pakistan Taliban and Haqqani Network. In those cases, however, the National Security Council served as a forum to mediate a policy approach where disagreement existed between agencies and departments. In contrast, the Trump administration has been more directive by pushing forward the possibility of sanctioning as terrorist groups the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the latter of which remains undesignated.