President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to begin the process of designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
The order, citing the Immigration and Nationality Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, points to the group’s involvement in violence across the Middle East, including rocket attacks on Israel following the October 7, 2023, assault.
Under the order, the State and Treasury Departments will lead a 30-day review to identify Brotherhood chapters in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon for possible designation. Such a designation could freeze assets, restrict travel, and criminalize providing material support to affiliated entities.
“The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, has developed into a transnational network with chapters across the Middle East and beyond,” the executive order reads. “Relevant here, its chapters in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt engage in or facilitate violence and destabilization campaigns that harm their own regions, U.S. citizens, and U.S. interests.
“For example, following the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel, the military wing of the Lebanese chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood joined Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Palestinian factions to launch multiple rocket attacks against civilian and military targets in Israel,” the order continues.
The order also highlights actions by leaders of the Egyptian and Jordanian chapters. “A senior leader of the Egyptian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, on October 7, 2023, called for violent attacks against U.S. partners and interests, and Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood leaders have long provided material support to the militant wing of Hamas. Such activities threaten the security of American civilians in the Levant and other parts of the Middle East, as well as the safety and stability of our regional partners.”
President Trump had previously indicated over the weekend that he planned to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. “It will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms,” he told Just the News. “Final documents are being drawn.”
The announcement comes shortly after Texas declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and follows a 200-page report from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), which warned of the group’s growing influence in the U.S. The report notes that the organization has gained access to government agencies, influenced civil rights policy, infiltrated educational institutions, and built a broad social media presence. It also alleges that the group has targeted U.S. government agencies, including the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice, through career appointments and advisory roles.
“We welcome President Trump’s statements and the growing recognition that the Muslim Brotherhood, its ideology and network pose a serious challenge to the United States and democratic societies,” said Charles Asher Small, executive director of ISGAP, in a press release following the president’s interview.