Trump Orders Review to Consider Designating Some Muslim Brotherhood Chapters as Terrorist Organizations

President Trump signed an executive order directing the administration to review whether certain Middle Eastern affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

The order instructs senior State and Treasury Department officials to deliver a report within 30 days and allows a further 45-day window after that for possible designation and action. The White House statement accompanying the order says the targeted affiliates in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan 'engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns.' It cites allegations that the Lebanese chapter's military wing helped launch rockets at Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and that leaders in other chapters have encouraged or supported violence or militant groups.

The administration also alleges that members of the Jordanian chapter have provided material support to the militant wing of Hamas, which the U.S. already designates as a foreign terrorist organization. If specific groups are formally designated, U.S. law would make it a crime to knowingly provide funding or other material support to them. Designation can also trigger travel restrictions for identified members and permit the freezing of assets held in U.S financial institutions.

Background and context

Founded in Egypt nearly a century ago, the Muslim Brotherhood is an influential political and social movement with affiliated parties and organizations across the Middle East. Its affiliated Freedom and Justice Party elected Mohammed Morsi president of Egypt in 2012; he was removed by the military in 2013. Some Brotherhood leaders have publicly renounced violence, but the movement remains controversial and has been banned by Egypt's government since 2013 and by Jordan more recently.

The order follows related actions at state and federal levels, including a recent declaration by Texas officials seeking to label the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and prompting legal challenges by civil-rights groups. Earlier this year, the administration used executive authority to label several Latin American drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and to designate some groups it tied to antifa in Europe; those moves drew debate over the scope and criteria for such designations.

White House summary: 'The president is confronting the Muslim Brotherhood's transnational network, which the administration says fuels terrorism and destabilization campaigns against U.S. interests and regional allies.'

The review represents a renewed push by the administration to use terrorism designations as a tool of foreign policy. Officials caution that the review process will consider intelligence, legal standards and diplomatic implications before any formal listings are made.