Trump Plans to Designate Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organization
US President, Donald Trump has announced his intention to designate the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as a foreign terrorist organization.
Speaking to online publication Just the News on Sunday, Trump said the action “will be done in the strongest and most powerful terms” and added that final documents are being prepared.
The announcement follows a recent move by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who last week designated both the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a US-based NGO described by some experts as having historical links to the MB as “foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations.”
In his proclamation, Abbott argued that the MB “provides support to local branches in countries and territories worldwide, including groups that conduct terrorism internationally.”
He also claimed that the MB and CAIR “have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam’s dominance globally.”
Abbott added that the actions of these groups to support terrorism and subvert laws through intimidation and harassment are unacceptable.
CAIR rejected the designation, arguing that it violates the constitutional rights of its members, including property and free speech protections, and announced that it is suing the state of Texas over the move.
Some members of the US Congress have been lobbying the State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization.
Legal experts note that such a designation involves a lengthy vetting process, including review of intelligence and diplomatic reports on the organization’s global activities and its various branches.
However, the US president can issue a temporary designation through an executive order, which would remain valid for up to one year.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously stated in August that a designation is under consideration, noting that “there are different branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, so you’d have to designate each one of them.” He added, “We have to go through an internal process of review, documentation, and justification.”
The Muslim Brotherhood is already designated as a terrorist organization in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, and was recently banned in Jordan.
The group maintains connections with Qatar and Turkey, which have historically supported Hamas, an organization considered an offshoot of the MB.
Experts also describe the Brotherhood as the ideological inspiration for Sunni jihadist groups, including Al-Qaeda.
Several Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to formalize the designation. Senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill in July calling for the MB to be classified as a foreign terrorist organization, stating that the group “provides support to branches that are terrorist organizations” and “poses a direct threat to American national security.”
The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025, co-sponsored by Republican Senator John Cornyn and others, would instruct the Secretary of State to designate the MB as a terrorist group and block its members from entering the United States.
Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz also co-sponsored the bill, arguing that “the Muslim Brotherhood has a documented history of promoting terrorism against the United States, its allies, and society.”
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, has supported the move, arguing that a systematic approach to designating the Brotherhood and its offshoots as a Foreign Terrorist Organization is long overdue.
