Introduction
The December 11 House Committee on Homeland Security hearing, “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,” featured multiple heads of government agencies tasked with protecting the nation from terror attacks. Some members of Congress expressed concern that recent cuts to defense and national security resources could weaken U.S. counterterrorism capabilities and create additional vulnerabilities at a time of elevated threat.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem named ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas among the terrorist organizations that DHS continues to confront, along with “individuals that are here, that are radicalized.” Asked whether these groups still intend to attack using all available methods, Noem responded unequivocally, “absolutely,” adding that U.S. intelligence is addressing “those threats on our streets here in the United States.”
Describing the current threat, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Kent said “The attacks of October 7th, the decentralized and barbaric nature of that is the new terrorist playbook. They’re not looking necessarily for a spectacular attack like we had on 9/11, but targets of opportunity like we tragically saw with the terrorist attack in Washington D.C. These smaller cells or even individual operatives taking action – that’s what has us very concerned combined with the sheer volume.”
The days following the hearing saw a series of deadly attempted and successful attacks abroad. On December 13, German police arrested five men plotting to ram a truck into crowds at a Christmas market. On December 14, two men motivated by ISIS ideology attacked a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, killing 15 and wounding dozens.
Additionally, on December 15, ISIS gunmen killed three Americans in Syria. Members of Congress stressed that this attack was reminder of the threats to the homeland; Congressman Mike Haridopolos warned that “lone gunmen” are “not only overseas but the fear is that… There are a lot of risks here in America. This is why we must be vigilant, keep our eyes open… Some people want to take us down every single day.”
These recent attacks show what can happen even when terrorists are under surveillance – and that insufficient counterterror resources can be deadly. Australian officials, including ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess, confirmed that one of the Bondi attackers was known to authorities but was not under active surveillance. In the Manchester Yom Kippur synagogue attack, the perpetrator had not only pledged allegiance to ISIS the day before his attack in which two were killed, but was actually out on bail for criminal activity – thus known to authorities but not to UK counterterrorism agencies. Both were on official radar but nevertheless carried out deadly attacks; this is not a counterterrorism failure that the U.S. can allow.
Warnings of an escalated terror threat abound across the U.S. were underscored by two attacks in Washington, D.C. On November 26, an Afghan national killed a Natonal Guardsman and wounded another just blocks from the White House. DHS secretary Noem said that he is believed to have been radicalized in the U.S. On May 21, radical leftist Elias Rodriguez, inspired by the October 7 Hamas attack, killed two at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. – and became an inspiration to jihadi and other extremists.
Other disturbing terror arrests across the country include a University of Delaware student from Pakistan who wanted to carry out a mass shooting at his school and die a martyr; an ISIS-K member in a suburb of D.C. who entered the U.S. a few years ago; and a 30-year-old Afghan in Fort Worth, Texas, charged December 2 with threatening, in a video shared on TikTok, X, and Facebook, to build a bomb, execute a suicide attack, and kill Americans and others.
But not all plots are discovered in time. In Colorado in June, an Egyptian national who was in the country illegally wounded 29 pro-Israel marchers using Molotov cocktails; one, an 82-year-old woman, later died of her injuries.
The country is fortunate that these attacks were not worse – but additional plots are surely being discussed and planned. When resources are cut and threats are downgraded, terrorist groups and lone wolf attackers will exploit the gaps – with predictable and possibly deadly consequences.
These developments are unfolding alongside an unprecedented surge in jihadi online chatter calling for attacks inside the U.S. From Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), there are calls for lone-wolf attacks and discussion of detailed blueprints for carrying them out. They are most likely watching closely – studying protests, security responses, and access points – and any lapse, however small, can be exploited as an operational vulnerability for future attacks.
Jihadi social media celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which coincided with the anniversary of 9/11 – and escalated their threats. One encrypted Islamic State (ISIS) forum shared posters threatening President Trump, for example, showing him with a bullet heading toward him and the words “You’re next.” A video from that forum depicted a White House engulfed in flames. That same week, the Trump administration requested $58 million in emergency funding to bolster executive branch and Supreme Court protection, while Congress followed with a push for $30 million more to enhance its own security. While such defensive measures are an acknowledgement of the need for more resources for counterterrorism efforts, they are not a national strategy to prevent major attacks.
Yet even as the threats grow by the day, cuts to America’s counterterrorism infrastructure could be creating dangerous openings for successful terrorist attacks – and jihadi organizations are paying close attention. The ISIS weekly Al-Naba’ of December 18 featured an editorial titled “The Pride Of Sydney” praising the Bondi Beach terrorists. Describing an “invisible fire” raging between ISIS fighters and global intelligence agencies and addressing “Crusaders and Jews,” it mocked efforts to uncover ISIS’s structures, leadership, cells, and sources of funding. Jihad has evolved, it proclaimed, reaching a degree of sophistication and complexity that cannot be stopped with technology.
Major Jihadi Organizations Escalate Threats Inside the U.S. – As Guardrails Stopping Them From Using Social Media To Target The Country Are Torn Down
Meanwhile, the online extremist ecosystem has surged in both size and sophistication, as social media guardrails meant to block terrorist groups from planning, fundraising, and recruiting online are being dismantled. Al-Qaeda, once nearly offline, is now back and issuing constant threats.
In June 2025, from his hideout in Yemen, former Guantanamo detainee and senior AQAP figure Ibrahim Al-Qousi warned of a “slow-moving, unstoppable” 9/11-style attack already underway. Days later, AQAP leader Sa’ad bin Atef Al-Awlaki released a video calling for assassinating President Trump, his advisors, and even Elon Musk. The message was clear: “No red lines.”
This follows calls for suicide attacks on U.S. soil in the Summer 2025 issue of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) English-language magazine Inspire, which praised the “extraordinary” attack at the Jewish museum in May in Washington, D.C. Its July issue introduced a new “Lone Jihad Guide Team,” with a 13-point tactical plan modeled after the June Colorado attack. The guide recommended using ghost guns, homemade explosives, knives, and even livestreams to maximize impact.
At the same time, ISIS propaganda has grown more violent and specific. Recent posts encourage followers to target synagogues and Jewish schools, destroy crops, and use poison and other methods for terrorist attacks. On May 7, the group’s Al-Battar Media released a video naming New York, Los Angeles, and Miami as prime targets due to their large Jewish populations.
Almost daily, there are threats like the one in the September 18 issue of ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly; it called on young Muslims in the West to carry out bold operations targeting Christian and Jewish gatherings and neighborhoods everywhere. “Jihad is the medicine of this [Islamic] nation and the path to its glory,” it said.
An issue of Inspire released October 26, 2025 via Telegram, in English and French, charged the U.S. with waging a Christian crusade against Islam and called on Muslims in the U.S. – particularly in New Jersey, Detroit, and Chicago – to “make armed response an act of devotion” and “shatter idols with the axe of tawhid [monotheism].”
Technologically, these groups are also innovating, with intense interest in cryptocurrency and even AI, and are looking at bringing their drone attacks in the jihad arenas into the U.S. and the West. A June 25 post by the pro-ISIS Bariqah News Agency urged followers to pair reconnaissance drones with explosive-laden ones, and last month a “jihadist-inspired terrorist attack” against the Belgium prime minister was foiled.
U.S. Federal Agencies Cut Budgets – As Jihadi Threats and Arrests Multiply
Yet as these threats intensify, America’s counterterrorism posture is shrinking. Budget cuts have hit the FBI and the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and State. Most recently, it was announced that nearly half of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) workforce would be eliminated. The justification – increasing bureaucratic efficiency – is reasonable, and the cuts may streamline future operations. But they must not leave gaps in intelligence coverage at a time when by any metric the threat environment is worsening.
This is happening as U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard warned, in a November 15, 2025 interview, that “Islamist terrorism is the greatest threat” currently facing the U.S. She explained that the nature of the danger has shifted – it is no longer dominated by large, centralized networks overseas but now by decentralized, lone-wolf attackers who are often radicalized online. National security strategies and intelligence tools, she argued, must evolve to meet these modern challenges.
The House Homeland Security Committee’s January 2025 “Terror Threat Snapshot” documented over 50 jihad-related cases across 30 states over the past four years that resulted in 187 arrests. Since its publication, their number has only increased. In one, Andrew Scott Hastings, 25, from Tulsa, Oklahoma was arrested on September 24, for attempting to provide 3D-printed firearms components, drones, and military manuals to an undercover agent posing as an Al-Qaeda affiliate. A former U.S. Army National Guard mechanic with a national security clearance, Hastings had previously discussed committing acts of violence in support of global jihad.
More recently, on October 27, Idaho teen Alexander Scott Mercurio, arrested in April 2024, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS, after federal investigators uncovered his plans to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack against churches in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. His plan, he wrote, was to “storm the temple, kill as many people as possible” and “then burn the temple to the ground and flee the scene,” at all 21 churches in town. Mercurio was in an encrypted group chat with fellow ISIS supporters spreading the organization’s propaganda online and providing ways to support them financially.
Additionally, on October 17, Lafayette, Louisiana resident – and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) member – Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi was arrested for alleged involvement in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, after having fraudulently obtained a visa to enter the U.S. in September 2024. The DFLP is closely tied to Hamas and the PFLP – an organization active on U.S. college campuses.
The most significant terrorism case yet originated in Dearborn, Michigan – an area that is a documented hotbed of support for Hizbullah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other jihadi organizations and individuals. It is also home to pro-ISIS Sheikh Ahmad Musa Jibril, the most influential English-speaking jihadi influencer in the U.S.
Federal authorities arrested six men in their teens and early 20s, across several states, for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired mass-casualty attack in the U.S. The first arrests were October 31, when two were charged after authorities said they intended to stage an assault modeled on the 2015 Paris attacks, using AR-15 rifles, tactical gear, and a detailed plan. In the days that followed, four additional suspects were arrested, in Washington State, New Jersey, and Michigan. According to court filings, members of the group discussed supporting ISIS and carrying out extreme acts of violence. One boasted that he wanted to commit an atrocity that would “leave a mark in history” and make him “one of the most 100 evil people in the world.”Another allegedly said he wanted to execute “500 Jews” and “mow down” pro-Israel marchers.
U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. said that this investigation demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to “follow the tentacles” of terror plots and maintain vigilance in homeland defense.
This was the fourth case this year in which authorities averted planned attacks by ISIS sympathizers hailing from the Dearborn area. On May 13, 19-year-old Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said of Melvindale, Michigan was arrested outside the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command in Warren, Michigan. Said, who used the encrypted platform Telegram, told undercover FBI agents that he aimed to either carry out a mass shooting attack in the U.S. or travel to ISIS-held territory abroad to wage jihad. In August 2024, Said had shown one agent a video of himself pledging loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Hafs Al-Hashemi Al-Qurayshi, bragged that he knew how to assemble rifles and firearms, and asked the undercover officers to livestream the planned attack and display the ISIS flag. On May 13, he met the undercover agent in Dearborn and launched a drone to surveille an army base as preparation for an attack.
Aws Mohammed Naser of Westland, Michigan was convicted on June 4, 2025 of attempting to provide material support to ISIS as well as being a felon in possession of a destructive device. In 2012, Naser had traveled to Iraq, and after returning to the U.S. and serving a prison sentence for armed robbery, had joined invitation-only online ISIS chatrooms, gaining access to official ISIS propaganda. He solicited and obtained information about manufacturing explosives and operating drones. On October 17, 2025, the FBI recovered a readily assemble-able destructive device from his home and vehicle.
Jibreel Pratt of Detroit, Michigan pleaded guilty on July 8 to two counts of concealing cryptocurrency donations to a designated foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS. In February 2023, Pratt had initiated a conversation with an undercover agent he believed to be an ISIS member who could facilitate his travel overseas to join ISIS. Over the following months, Pratt recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS’s leader and shared information on how ISIS could use drones and remote-controlled cars to deliver explosives. In March and May 2023, Pratt sent Bitcoin to the undercover agent with the intent that it fund individuals’ travel to fight in ISIS-controlled areas, or for carrying out attacks in support of ISIS. On November 13, he was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment.
Yet the threat isn’t just from within. Retiring AFRICOM commander Gen. Michael Langley cautioned recently that jihadi groups in Africa have grown strong enough to target the U.S. homeland.
Additionally, a September 19 National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) memo warned of potential Al-Qaeda attacks, flagging sports and music events as high-risk targets and urging increased law enforcement and security briefings. NCTC director Kent confirmed that there was “verified intelligence from multiple disciplines corroborating Al-Qaeda’s presence and planning across U.S. cities.”
To Offset Deep Counterterrorism Cuts, The Government Should Collaborate With Experts and NGOs Working on Counter Terrorism
The success of U.S. counterterrorism operations over the past decade has created the illusion that the threat had diminished. But all the recent attacks inside the country are a stark warning: Washington cannot afford to underfund or underprioritize the resources needed to confront this growing danger.
The 2001 War on Terror is no more – but there is still a war, and it is ideological, decentralized, encrypted, and global. Jihadis have grown more sophisticated, using AI and cryptocurrency, and are now preparing drone attacks. Jihadi networks no longer need training camps or state sponsors – just wi-fi. The decentralized, low-cost model of terrorism that they have embraced is harder to detect and predict, but it every bit as deadly.
America’s current posture – cutting intelligence staff, defunding security programs, and dismantling interagency task forces – will not stop future terrorism. Both the 9/11 and October 7 surprise attacks changed history, and they must serve as a reminder that jihadis around the world are continuing to pour all their energy into plotting the next attack.
To offset recent cuts and avoid continued exposure to attacks, the government should fund partnerships with vetted NGOs and independent experts with regional expertise, language skills, and deep knowledge of extremist networks to sustain intelligence and early-warning capabilities – and avoid being blindsided by a devastating attack.
To view the original article as well as additional reports from the Middle East Media Research Institute, visit MEMRI’s website.
