Trump designates Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organization

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

President Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order to begin the process to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

Trump did so one week after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) FTOs, The Center Square reported. Both groups “have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s ‘mastership of the world,’” Abbott said. Their actions “support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment … These radical extremists are not welcome in our state and are now prohibited from acquiring any real property interest in Texas.”

Trump’s order cites the Immigration and Nationality Act and International Emergency Economic Powers Act as legal authorities for issuing the order. It also amends a Sept. 23, 2001, executive order issued by former President George Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism).

The Society of Muslim Brothers, known as Jama’ at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin (Muslim Brotherhood) was founded in Egypt in 1928 with a stated commitment to Islamic jihad (fighting unbelievers) and imposing Sharia (Islamic) law worldwide. It “has developed into a transnational network with chapters across the Middle East and beyond,” Trump’s proclamation states, including in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. The chapters “engage in or facilitate and support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm their own regions, United States citizens, and United States interests,” the proclamation states.

It cites examples of chapter violence including a Lebanese chapter joining Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian factions to launch multiple rocket attacks against civilian and military targets in Israel after the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel. It also points to the leader of its Egyptian chapter calling “for violent attacks against United States partners and interests;” and its Jordanian chapter having “long provided material support to the militant wing of Hamas.” It states their actions threaten the security of Americans living in the Middle East and U.S. regional partners.

It directs the secretaries of state and treasury to consult with the attorney general and director of National Intelligence and submit a joint report on the Muslim Brotherhood FTO designation and its subchapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. It also directs the secretaries of State and Treasury to take appropriate actions, including issuing the FTO status and relative associated financial sanctions.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, praised the president’s directive after he’s called for the designation for years. “I have been leading the fight in Congress to secure designations for my entire tenure in the Senate. The process will now advance purposefully within the administration under President Trump, and now is the time to build on today’s decision in Congress,” Cruz said, including passing a bill he’s introduced for years.

Cruz has filed a bill multiple times over the past 10 years to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 to ban all Muslim Brotherhood members from the U.S., The Center Square reported.

U.S. Reps. Chip Roy and Keith Self, also Republicans from Texas, have filed a bill to ban Sharia law in the U.S. They’ve all done so as Texas officials continue to lead the charge to ban Sharia law in Texas and the U.S., The Center Square reported.

Cruz said the FTO designation is “critical to American national security and to the safety of Americans. This battle has been over a decade in the making, and it faced fierce resistance from supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood abroad and from deeply embedded bureaucrats across the U.S. government. The Muslim Brotherhood and its branches encourage, facilitate, and provide resources for conducting jihadist terrorism across the world. They are committed to overthrowing the United States and the governments of our allies.”

The designation also comes after Trump has been criticized for his pick for Ambassador to Kuwait, Amer Ghalib. Ghalib has previously publicly expressed support for the Muslim Brotherhood. When questioned by Cruz last month, he said the group was an “ideology” and the Kuwaiti government needed to “do research” on it. The brotherhood has been active in Kuwait since the 1930s and is represented by the Islamic Constitutional Movement, a minority political party in Kuwait. The Kuwaiti Brotherhood has direct ties to al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, the Counter Extremism Project explains.

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.