President Trump signed a national security presidential memorandum on Wednesday directing federal law enforcement to use cyber tools against transnational criminal organizations operating overseas that target Americans with ransomware attacks and financial fraud schemes. The memo creates a formal pathway for private-sector cyber companies to help the government identify and disrupt these foreign-based networks, according to the White House.
The memorandum directs the Homeland Security Task Force's National Coordination Center to stand up a new program led jointly by Executive Directors from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, tasked with executing cyber operations against foreign criminal organizations, according to the White House. As Reuters reports, the memo directs Trump's administration to leverage private-sector capability and innovation for cyber operations conducted under U.S. government direction, control, and authority. The Reuters piece was reported by Ismail Shakil and Ryan Patrick Jones, and edited by Christian Martinez and Michelle Nichols.
Under the new framework, vetted firms designated as “Participating Companies” will be permitted to gather threat intelligence on transnational criminal organizations and propose specific cyber surveillance and cyber effects operations, subject to U.S. government authority. Reuters notes that the memorandum also creates a framework encouraging private-sector companies to enter agreements with other private entities and with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies. Trump had previewed the broader push in remarks delivered August 5 at Red Rock Casino Resort Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Building on an Executive Order From March
Wednesday's memo is not a standalone action. It expands upon Executive Order 14390, “Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens,” which Trump signed on March 6, 2026 to create a dedicated interagency operational cell within the National Coordination Center, according to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. That same day, the White House released “President Trump's Cyber Strategy for America,” a six-pillar framework prioritizing offensive and defensive integration, agentic AI, and public-private cyber coordination, as detailed by Mayer Brown. Pillars 1 and 4 of that strategy specifically called for leveraging U.S. technological capabilities to disrupt foreign cybercrime networks and scam compounds.
The March executive order also gave the effort diplomatic teeth. It instructed the Secretary of State to engage foreign governments hosting cybercrime networks and to enforce measures including sanctions, visa restrictions, trade penalties, and cuts to foreign aid if host nations fail to act, according to Orrick InfoBytes. Many foreign scam compounds and ransomware groups operate with tacit or explicit protection from local authorities, which has long complicated U.S. enforcement efforts abroad.
Billions in Losses Drive the Urgency
The financial stakes behind the policy are steep. Reported cybercrime losses in the United States surged from $12.5 billion in 2023 to more than $16.6 billion in 2024, with older Americans suffering the largest losses from foreign scam operations, according to research published by MDPI. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has tracked rapid year-over-year increases in victim losses, a trend researchers attribute in part to AI-enabled schemes.
To help victims recoup some of those losses, the March executive order also directed the U.S. Attorney General to recommend establishing a federal Victims Restoration Program to return seized or forfeited illicit funds to scam victims, per the ABA Banking Journal. Federal law enforcement frequently seizes cryptocurrency and other financial assets when disrupting transnational fraud rings, giving that program a potential pool of funds to draw from.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Cyber Memos
Wednesday's memo also fits a pattern the president has used before to move quickly on cyber authorities. Trump previously expanded executive authority for offensive military cyber operations during his first term by issuing National Security Presidential Memorandum 13 in August 2018, which streamlined decision-making by delegating approval powers to the Secretary of Defense, according to Lawfare. That memo replaced Obama-era directives that had required lengthy interagency consensus before deploying digital weapons against foreign targets.
More recently, Trump signed National Security Presidential Memorandum 12 on June 12, 2026, modernizing the 35-year-old Committee on National Security Systems governance framework and expanding NSA authorities over federal cyber defense, as reported by HSToday. That memo established binding cybersecurity baselines across civilian and defense agencies operating classified or national security systems.
States Are Also Building Out Cyber Units
The federal push comes as state agencies have been building their own cybercrime capacity to handle the local fallout of these transnational schemes. Oklahoma's State Bureau of Investigation launched a dedicated Fraud and Cybercrime Unit on July 1, reflecting a broader trend of state and local police departments that often lack the technical expertise or resources to investigate complex international cyber scams without state and federal support.
The new memo also lands amid a steady drumbeat of federal warnings about foreign-based cyber threats. Hoodline reported Tuesday that federal officials warned the Gunra ransomware gang is targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, and last month covered a Cleveland federal briefing on an alleged global cybercrime ring. Open questions remain about how quickly the new DOJ-DHS program will approve its first Participating Companies and what specific operations they might propose, details the White House fact sheet does not yet spell out.
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